Citizen of the Sky
by CyberShockwave
Summary: For every hour I had spent in my Cockpit, fighting a war that no one wanted, I spent days on the ground, getting to know people who made me want to spend more time with them. War is known for stealing things; Land, lives, time, money. But the Circum-Pacific War gave me more than I started off with.[REVISED]
1. -Citizenship-

**AN: I'm always on this site looking for a good Blaze and Nagase fanfic but they are all really short or not finished yet and haven't been updated in months. So... solution; Make my own. For those of you who are wondering what the [REVISED] means, it just means I've removed nearly all the authors notes for smoother reading and fixed alot of grammar and spelling (though there's probably still alot I've missed, sorry). Here's a quick guide on some of the organization symbols I'll be using.**

**.oOo. : This signifies the begining/end of a dream or other non-conscious state**

**:|:|:|: : This signifies a perspective change. You won't see this until chapter 39, so don't worry about it for now**

**_italicized_****_ text_ : This can mean one of three things. First, it could be written text. I've tried to get it all, but there still may be some instances where written text still isn't italicized. Second, it could be a flash back. Third, it could just be emphasis. Contextual clues should be enough to help you out with discernment of which of the three meanings is being used.**

**I hope you enjoy my take on one of my favorite games.**

**Citizenship**

The cold night wind nipped at the exposed areas of my face as I stood just outside the door of the hangar for the training aircraft. The bright orange coloring of the T1 Hawks we used here were offensively contrasting with the white, winter-wonder-land, but I still found I had affectionate feelings towards the craft. It had been my first ticket to the sky, to a haven that was rarely visited by terrestrial beings. I began to walk into the hangar, relived when I entered its threshold and escaped the biting wind. It smelled faintly of oil and lubricants and my cheeks began to burn as the warmth of my blood filled my cold face with heat. My steps echoed loudly in the hangar, there was barely any cloth present to absorb the auditory energies produced by my snow-laden boots that were leaving watery footprints on the smooth concrete behind me. When I reached the left wing of the aircraft, I reached out and touched the smooth aluminum that was interrupted with bumps of rivets. I began my walk towards the rear of the plane, keeping my hand placed on its surface, producing a soft, metallic brushing sound that made me think back on all the events that had culminated to this moment.

When I was twelve, the sky was attacked. An asteroid ripped through our planet's atmosphere like a boulder punching through paper. I lost my family and as a result, I became almost as hard at the pieces of rock that killed them. I was placed in a family that was provided by the state. They helped me out of the dark places I had fallen into. They had lost family, I had lost family, and together we found family. It was during that time I found the sky a solstice. While it changed day to day with clouds and varying hues and colors, it stayed fundamentally the same, recovering even from the worst of wounds. It was tragic that the same couldn't be said of the nations that resided on the ground.

They had tried to prevent the celestial collision. Nations all over the world proudly boasted over the complaints of others about how their system would save us all, urging us to ignore the voices in the back of our heads about the dangers such weapons could pose if they were aimed in a different direction. Our continent, Usea, built Stonehenge, a multiple rail-cannon system that could target falling debris that would eventually strike the continent. While it had done a great job considering the circumstances, destroying some of the largest pieces of rock that could've taken out entire countries if they had been left to do so, it couldn't hit every piece and countless lives were still lost.

Only four years passed until the next cataclysm struck my life. During the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school, Erusea began to take hold of the majority of the continent, including Stonehenge. With me and my new family living in North Point, we were spared most of the grim realities of war. But the television made sure to show us what was happening anyways. For a while, it looked like our island of resistance to the military juggernaut would fall as well. It got to the point where my new father was conscripted into the Independent States Allied Forces Air Force. But when school rolled around like nothing happened, I devoted time into finding out why the tide of war was beginning to change. A single pilot was foiling Erusea's military advances and pushing back against their barrage. My father updated me and my mother about things he could, not always being able to talk a lot about what he was doing or where he was doing it, but he made sure to tell us not to lose hope, that he was going to win this war for us, even if he had to do it alone.

I finished up my junior year but the war was still raging and my father was still fighting. I followed the ace pilot who became known as Mobius One. The way he fought his enemies showed me he was clearly at home in the sky, it was his natural habitat that his enemies had stumbled into. My father checked up on us often through frequent video calls, and when he could, told me generalized stories of his air battles. The way he lost himself when he talked of his feats, the way he could just stare off into the open space between us, it evoked something in me. That summer, while I was preparing for school, I began the process of looking into a career with the ISAF Air Force as well. But before I could even begin senior year, the war ended, my father came home, and we jumped across the Cascade Ocean to Osea. The transition was so fast, so sudden, that I became overwhelmed with things to catch up on. School started in a month, I had no idea about the new country we moved to, and every plan I had made with the people who I had made them with were suddenly gone from my life. My chances at flying were getting further away and I was becoming stressed.

My father told me not to worry about having to serve, thinking my main motivation was just to get into the military. 'This new country, Osea, has had its last war a while ago and isn't looking for another,' he told me. But I told him of my desire to serve, to become a pilot like he had been. When I had told him that, he had gotten quiet for a while. I was starting to wonder what I had said to him to cause him this shift in mood when my birthday rolled around on the sixth of September, a week before school was to start. My father had been uncharacteristically antsy the entire day and I was about to ask him why when he handed me an envelope with the Osean seal on it. I looked at him with puzzlement and he just stood there, encouraging me to open it. Inside were papers certifying me as a legal citizen of the Osean Federation. I looked at my father, the same expression of my confused state still on my face.

"You're a citizen of this country now. You can join whatever government institution you want to, including its military, or maybe... more specifically, it's Air Force."

My head had begun to fill with emotions and questions, chief being how he had been granted citizenship so fast. He helped me fill out a special scholarship provided by the Osean Air Defense Force that would pay for my college tuition in return for military service. That year of school was the toughest I had yet faced, temptations of drugs, alcohol, girls, and if that wasn't enough, I was playing catch-up with Osean history. Luckily, I was ahead in terms of math, science, reading, and writing skills. Apparently, Osea's schools were second rate compared to North Point's. I earned the OADF scholarship and was to go to a prestigious school in Oured. My parents beamed at my accomplishments and couldn't stop telling me how much they were proud to be able to call me their son.

Soon after I got situated at my new life in college, my father was called away, back to ISAF for 'one final mission,' as he called it. I missed not being able to share my first few months of my new life with him, and I sensed he regretted it to, but I could also tell that the prospect of returning to the cockpit of a fighter jet excited him as well. I understood his appeal and knew I would have conflicting emotions in his position as well. He returned safely after a short deployment of three months and everything seemed fine for a while. Three years later, half way through my senior year in college, a home robbery gone wrong resulted in me losing my second chance at a family. With nothing left to come back to, there was only forward.

It felt like as soon as I had walked across the stage with a degree in hand, I was put through physical exams, physical tests, mental exams, and mental tests. Every part of me was examined and then thoroughly tested. As soon as I was through all the paper parts of pilot training, I was shipped off to the remote Heierlark air base to begin hands on training in its freezing environment.

They started me slow here, with computer simulations, flight classes, and more intensive PT in the chilling conditions. But I gave it my all, knowing it would mean an express rout to my haven I longed to join. Within a month of getting on base, I was in my first aircraft, a T1. It was less responsive than some of the aircraft I simulated in, but nothing could simulate the feeling of your organs shifting around, the adrenalin of seeing the real world race by you as you took off from a runway and pulled up sharply to meet the sky in a long awaited embrace. The instructor I rode with those first couple of times had to remind me at least twice to stop gawking out the canopy. My first few flight hours were just the basic maneuvers and procedures, but I wanted more. I needed more. I began to pull more advanced maneuvers without his guidance. I started besting some of the people who had grown complacent with average skill. I was becoming more comfortable with the handling of the plane and the base picked up on it.

Soon we were in mock dogfights with other pilots. Sure, I lost some of the first battles, but never twice to the same opponent. I learned and analyzed successful engagements and incorporated the maneuvers into my own tactics, making sure to exploit weaknesses in the others strategy. People began to take notice of me, the rookie pilot who was beating pilots three years my senior. Then the instructors began to skew the odds, trying to make me fail, but I wouldn't let them revoke my stay in the sky. The dogfights became two on one and then three on one then F-5 vs. Hawk then F-5's vs. Hawk. I finally was shot down in an engagement against three F-5's when I ran out of ordinance on the last bogey. An important lesson was learned that day about conservation of weapon ammunition.

Other junior pilots on base came to talk to me to gain insight on what they could do or just to talk, but they all found out rather quickly that I wasn't the typical 'top gun' pilot. I wasn't trying to be rude or anti-social, but to me, I was just another pilot, nothing special or that couldn't be replaced. I didn't like the limelight when there were so many other topics deserving of the attention. That was when she transferred in, another pilot who thankfully took the attention off of me. She was a superb pilot. The instructors began to skew the odds with her, like they had with me. I decided I would try and help her get further along than I had. Everyone liked it when the trainees showed up the trainers. However, finding the pilot had proven a more difficult task than I had assumed. I spent the entirety of one particularly freezing Sunday afternoon searching for her, but to no avail. With disappointment, I returned to my barracks to think about how to come off on her not as a jerk trying to show off his knowledge, but as a peer trying to help her stick it to the man.

The next morning, I was awoken to the harsh sound of my flight trainer screaming my name, telling me I was to scramble and get into my aircraft in the next fifteen minutes or the base would be raided by enemy fighters. I knew it was a drill but that didn't slow down my rushed dressing routine and b-line to the hangars. After an emergency flight check, we sortied in four and some odd minutes.

"Damn, that was the fastest I've ever seen a rookie sortie. I think you just got your call-sign, Blaze. Yeah. That's a good one. What'd think, rookie?" my flight trainer asked when we were at cruising altitude. I began to take a breath to respond before he cut in. "I knew you would agree. Okay, keep your eyes peeled, Blaze, control is reporting a lone bogey coming from vector 038. Most likely a Belken scout." I rolled my eyes. In all of our training exercises, the enemy was always the Belken Air Force. I thought it was a dated antiquity left over from the war 15 years ago, but whatever flew their plane. The sun was beginning to turn the sky pink to my right. I began to get distracted again, getting lost in the neon colors the clouds were beginning to exhibit.

"Blaze! Hello!? Damn it, your one weakness is your fondness of this place." I rolled my eyes at the foul mouthed reprimand of my trainer and respectfully replied,

"How can one not lose them-selves in such ethereal beauty?" I could just picture the confused scowl on my instructors face in the moments of silence that ensued. I liked to flaunt my language skills whenever he started fouling up his. After a few days of our unusual banter, my instructor told me he didn't care what I talked like, so long as I kept shooting down enemy planes like he went through beers on a Friday night. The first time he had said that to me I figured that my instructor must be some kind of alcoholic.

Now that my attention had been thoroughly torn away from the intrinsic beauty outside my canopy, I looked down at my instruments and spotted the enemies radar blip. Sure enough, it was approaching from the vector control had provided. I began to yaw to meet the bogey head on. The singular blip on the search radar both comforted and worried me. It had been a while since my last 'fair fight' and the fact that I only saw one plane either meant they pulled out all the stops and had stealth craft with the one non-stealth, or that the other pilot was some sort of war-hardened ace looking to knock me back down to where I 'belonged.' I was scanning the skies like an eagle. The sun was beginning to become annoyingly bright and I flipped down my shaded visor. That was when I got eye's on.

"Tally ho, enemy fighter sighted two-o-clock high, hiding in the sun. Turning to engage." I reported to my trainer.

"Copy that, Blaze. Good luck." I took a pause for a micro-second. My trainer never once wished me luck before. Not even on my first mock battle. Something was up. I throttled up and rolled to the right to begin banking towards the bogey. Even from the distance I was at, I could tell it was another Hawk. Only one aircraft and it was another trainer. Something was definitely going on. I was on edge the entire ingress to my target, constantly scanning for a glint of a stealth fighter's canopy. The other trainer finally noticed me and began to change its course. It already had a height advantage but the pilot began to climb even higher. I was already flying into the sun and I didn't want to put myself at another disadvantage, so I pulled my nose up just enough so that the floor of the cockpit was blotting out the peeping sun. My gaze was locked on the other aircraft. It had leveled out its climb and was now beginning to dive for me.

My plane was traveling directly east now and either way I rolled, I would be faced with the sun again, so I chose to play off of my left, rolling the plane with the nose still in a ten degree climb. I began to bank to the left at an air speed of .7 Mach with the opponents plane closing the gap all the while. They would be in missile firing range shortly and I would be in a poor strategic position when it happened. Or so the pilot thought. My warning alarm began to buzz and my HUD lit up a light red color. I kept course however. It would only be mission over if the missile alert warning was on for more than 3 seconds at this range. I waited until the warning turned into an alert and made my move, quickly completing a half barrel role and pulling a high G inverted maneuver, bringing the wailing of the alarm to an end and putting me into an optimal position to begin pursuit of the opponent.

The other aircraft flew past me as I expected, not having enough reaction time to pull out of their dive they had initiated to start their attack. I applied full dry thrust, not that I could initiate after-burn in the trainer, and pursued with rocketing acceleration, the aircraft bouncing around in the jet wash of the other plane. I quickly began closing the distance between me and the target craft. The pilot began to pull crazy maneuvers to try and shake me, and to their credit, they were good. I stuck to them like white on rice on a paper-plate in a snowstorm though, feeling the fluidity of the action-reaction take control of my hands, feet and head, moving them all as if there was a brain for each of them. I was about to get a lock on with my missiles when the pilot suddenly applied full air brakes and cut power to their engines. I yanked back my throttle and pulled down hard on my flight stick, desperately trying to avoid a mid-air collision. At the apex of my loop, I looked down through my canopy to where the other pilot was supposed to be but they weren't there.

"Lost visual," I cried out to my trainer. But all I heard was a muffled chuckle from behind me. My instructor had turned off his mike and was laughing at my efforts. So much for any help from him. I righted my plane and pulled up into a 25 degree climb while circling around the area, trying to get a fix on the other trainer while gaining an altitude advantage. At 30,000 feet, I leveled with the horizon but continued my circular patrol of the area, constantly checking radar to try and get a read on the other pilot's location. We were too close to each other for it to be of any use so I had to rely on my eagle eyes to find the opponent. Then another glint caught my eye. It was about 2,500 feet below me, performing the same circling motion I was. The way the pilot wasn't changing course told me they hadn't spotted me. Yet. I had the element of surprise.

Being mindful of the sun, I began to lower altitude to the bogeys level and made sure to stay in their blind spot, carefully angling my plane to prevent the same glint that had given their plane away. I purposefully turned off the lock-on computer to keep it from giving away my position and when I was ready for attack, flipped the boot switch and held my thumb over the missile launch button. Almost as soon as I had tone, the other plane began bucking around like a wild Emmerian stallion. I launched a simulated missile with the lock I had and moved my index finger over the gun trigger. It wasn't needed however. At the range we were at, the pilot had only a half second of reaction time before the 'missile' impacted their plane. I heard a click over the radio indicating to me that my instructor behind me had turned his mike back on.

"Damn, I thought she had you for a moment."

She? Was it her? I pulled up to the right wing high position of the now level rival aircraft. As I looked over to the other canopy, I saw the pilot pulling off their oxygen mask and lifting their tinted visor. Sure enough, I could make out the face of the other rookie pilot who was beginning to make splashes like I had. I smiled at her before I realized that my visor was still down and my O2 mask was still covering my mouth. I quickly reached over with my left hand and undid the clasp on the right side of my helmet for the mask while sliding the visor up as well. I quickly smiled and waved. She had put me through a more intense fight than I had my entire stay here and was thankful for the challenge she had given me on even terms. Who knows how the fight would've gone down under different circumstances. I was interrupted from my musings as usual by my instructor.

"Okay, Blaze. Let's RTB and debrief. I think that pilots call-sign is just as fitting as yours."

"May I inquire as to what that name may be?" I asked, purposefully complicating the sentence just to drive him a little crazy.

"I swear, you keep talking like that and one day someone is going to kick you in your pompous ass."

"What's her call-sign and how'd she get it?" I asked flatly.

"Better. Her name's Edge. Her instructor gave it to her for putting her opponents, well, on the edge."

"A very apt name," I commented, glancing back towards the other craft that was beginning landing procedures.

"I should say. You look a little shiny from back here. You sweating, Blaze?" I detected a hint of mockery in his voice but I didn't know why. She had put up a great fight and the extra perspiration she had caused me was a testament to her superb flying skills.

"Yes sir, I am. I'd like to practice more with that pilot, she has given me more challenge and demand of skill than I have experienced in a while." The soft chuckling of my instructor was silenced when I began speaking again. I could once again picture the confused look on his face at my admittance of the woman's challenge. After a telling silence, he spoke again.

"Well, hate to dash your sweet hopes with pepper flakes, but that was your final test. And hers I might add. You've both been assigned a squadron. Congrats Blaze, you earned it." I was stunned. I had only been in flight school for six weeks. A typical pilot received at least ten.

"Thank you sir, but it wasn't a one sided effort. Remind me to buy you a Friday night's worth of drinks when we get back ground-side." To that, my instructor laughed a loud and deep laugh that caused me to cringe a little at the sudden noise in my ear muffs.

"Son, if you did that, you would be broke for a month. I will gladly let you pay for a round though."

"Sounds like a deal," I replied as I lined up for approach. The sun had been covered up by a sudden shift in weather that had brought dark snow clouds to the area. A mean cross wind and an incoming blizzard were making landing conditions less than optimal. I yawed the craft five degrees to the left to compensate for the winds and at the last moment, brought the nose in line with the middle of the runway and pulled up to ensure the back wheels touched down first, promptly followed by the nose gear. I applied full brakes, reversed the thrust, and deployed the flaps to slow the craft down. I was then directed by a man who looked like a Nordennavic native in his thick winter clothing to a hangar for the trainer. After I shut down the engines just outside the hangar's doors, a specialized vehicle latched onto my front landing gear and swung us around to back us into the hangar.

When the doors to the enclosure had finally shut, I reluctantly opened the canopy and was meet with the chilly exterior world. The sweat I had worked up seemed to freeze solid and I quickly jogged to the locker near the side door of the building for the thick winter coat I had stocked in it.

I had a nice hot meal for dinner to celebrate my assignment to a squadron. I kept looking for the woman I had battled with earlier but I couldn't see her anywhere. I thought she had been assigned a squad as well? After the mini-party, I changed into more weather resistant clothes and walked back to the hangar I had been parked in earlier. My adventure through my life was suddenly interrupted by a voice in the hangar with me.

"You look very contemplative," a soft voice said. I almost jumped when I heard her, I hadn't noticed anyone else in the hangar with me. I snapped my head towards the voice to see an outline of a woman in the dim light of the hangars lamps. She was sitting cross-legged on a tool box off to the corner of the room with her head in her hands.

"Just thinking back on things," I said casually, trying to hide my initial fright. Had she been in here with me the entire time? "So much has happened to me, so many things could've happened differently. I'm just thankful I will be able to fly." I turned back to the plane that had given me my first taste of boundless freedom.

"I know what you mean. I think we are very lucky to have been assigned to squadrons." The shuffling coming from her corner told me she had gotten off of her perch and was walking towards the aircraft and me.

"The squadron assignment is just a bonus. I am in it for the... freedom. I can only hope I won't have to stain the sky with any death. I will if I have to, but..."

"... Only then," the pilot completed. She surprised me again, her voice much closer than I expected. I turned around to face her only to find eyes the color of chocolate milk drawing me in as soon as I faced her. Her hair was short and thin, teetering on the edge of brown and black, reacting to every movement she made. "You're an amazing pilot," she started again. "You seemed at home in the sky today. It's been a while since I've seen anyone more comfortable up there than me," she finished with a small smile coming across her thin lips.

"I could say the same about you," I said with a faint smile of my own. At my reciprocation to her complement, her face colored slightly before she turned away. She quickly recovered from the movement though and faced me again no more than a second later.

"I'm Nagase. Kei Nagase," she said as she pushed a stray hair behind one of her ears before offering me a hand. For a moment, I was frozen to my position, forgetting all normal behavior and just losing myself in her presence just as I had with the sunrise earlier today, but I quickly recovered when she asked a question of her own. "What's your name?"

"I'm Caden. Irving. Caden Irving," I said as I clumsily came out of my trance and shook her hand. I had planned on giving my name a little more eloquently, but I had forgotten in my rush to answer her. Trying to recover, I asked, "How long have you been flying, Ms. Nagase?" She smiled again at my formality and began to walk forward, past me and to the plane, running a hand over it like I had, a similar expression capturing her face as she began to recount her adventure in the skies.

"I enlisted back in '08," She started, opening her eyes from her trance and glancing back at me, continuing to walk forward with her hand on the plane. "I worked hard to get into Officer Training School, only to be denied three times. Finally made it this year." She stopped in place for a moment and bowed her head in thought and contemplation. "I had a bone to pick with them for not admitting me earlier." She lifted her head again and looked back at me. With a small smirk, she continued, "Made sure to show them what they had been skimming over." She began to walk forward again, quickly ducking under the wing of the Hawk to stand beside the cockpits right side. I stepped up to the wing and leaned over on it, resting my elbows on the shiny aluminum alloy. "When I got into the cockpit for the first time, I felt so..." She spun around to face me again. I knew the look on her face, so I smiled and nodded. Satisfied that I understood, she leaned on her right against the aircraft.

"Anyways, when they started dogfight training, I vowed to show up. I was doing so well down in November City that they transferred me up here for..." She looked straight at me with another friendly smirk. "… Competition." November City? I had made waves that big? She looked at me for a while, like she was expecting some big head remark. When I didn't say anything, she continued. "You're not like what the other pilots I've been meeting told me you'd be like. They all said you were... well... let's say, less talkative."

"Sorry to disappoint," I told her with a slight grin. Then I added with seriousness, "I'm just another pilot in training. If I start acting like some big-shot, then I get shot. Everyone who tries to talk to me seems to want to ask questions about things that an instructor could answer better. They don't ask the right questions, is what I'm trying to say, I guess." She smiled. I was starting to think she knew what I been through in terms of dealing with people who just wanted a good pilot as a friend to elevate their own status.

"I know what you mean," she said, confirming my suspicions. "So what squadron did you get assigned?" I thought back to what the Base Commander had told me.

"I believe it was the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Wardog. Supposed to be stationed out at Sand Island. It'll be a nice change of scenery, I think. How about you?" Kei stood there for a moment, head held forward with open mouth and squinted eyes like I had said some profane word.

"Wardog," was all she was able to put forth.

"Yep, that's what I said. How about you? What Squadron were you assigned to?"

"No, that's just it. I'm Wardog as well." It was my turn to have the unbelieving expression.

"Do you think they...?"

"Did it on purpose? Maybe. It is a pretty big coincidence otherwise," she finished my question as I smiled and looked down at the wing I was leaning on, shaking my head.

"Well," I started. "Maybe you can help me become more 'talkative.'"

"I don't know if I'm the right person to help you with that, but I'm more than happy to try so long as you try to make me a better pilot," she returned.

I looked up at her again and stood back up, taking my weight off of the wing of the Hawk. "I think we can work something out," I said slyly. She flashed me a quick grin before dropping her gaze to her feet and shuffling them about.

"I think there's a party going on for us back there," I said, nodding my head back towards the mess hall. Still grinning, she lifted her head and nodded, quickly walking back over to the toolbox she had been sitting on and grabbing her winter coat. I walked over to the side door of the hangar and placed my hands on the cold bar to open it. I pushed but the door wasn't budging. I pushed harder and heard the sound of ice snapping. I backed away from the door a bit and rammed my body against the door and heard more snapping and popping. I repeated this three more times and finally on my fourth try, broke the ice seal on the door. Huffing a little and then clearing my throat from my exertion, I turned around and held the door wide for Kei. She had a bemused look on her face and I could tell she was struggling at trying not to laugh.

"Ladies first," I said with a small cloud of condensation forming from my breath. As she walked past me she gave me a playful punch on the arm and then raced off towards the mess. I was pretty happy knowing she would be coming with me to Sand Island. With all the changes I had endured in my life, some consistency would be a nice... change. I rushed on after her and we meet as she got to the door leading into the building. It, like the hangar door was frozen shut.

"I suppose I will have to help you even after that little stunt," I said with mock disapproving. She just punched me in the arm again with a harmless smile on her face and stepped aside. After another couple of yanks on the door, it snapped open, blasting us with warm air. We both walked to the mess hall in relative silence, the squeaking of our boots providing the sounds we refused to make with our mouths. There were fewer people in the mess now but still at least 30 all said. I grabbed a slice of cake and a glass of punch and sat down with the remaining members of my training flight and Nagase with hers. The rest of the night was enjoyable and when it came be around 2300, I excused myself and retired for the night. Tomorrow, Kei and I would be flown out to what would become our new home. I was thinking I would get a restless night of sleep, but as soon as I hit my cot, I was out. It was some of the soundest sleep I had gotten in a long time. I knew I had secured my citizenship with the sky, and I could finally rest easy.


	2. -Father-

**Father**

The next morning was packed with paper work, paper work, followed by some rigorous paper work and finished off with a nice relaxing bit of paper work. It was to become half my job, or so I was told. While I was signing the multitude of waivers, contracts, forums, and various other documents signifying I no longer belonged to myself, I noticed it was the first of September. It had sneaked up on me again. Pushing the thought aside, I continued with the rest of the day. I grabbed my duffel bag full of all the clothes I would ever need in my life, which equated to just over 25 items. I sat there with the rest of the people and supplies being loaded on the transport. I sighed, closing my eyes and bringing my right hand to my temples to massage away the sudden bout of memories about birthdays of my past. It had been less than a year since my parents had died, but it already felt so far away.

"You look very contemplative," said a voice that brought a smile to my face despite the glum memories. I lowered my hand and looked up to see Kei strapping herself in across from me.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Thanks a lot, birthday," I said sarcastically to the air. Kei suddenly had an interested look on her face.

"What do you mean?" she asked quickly.

"My birthday is coming up and it's bringing back feelings I'd rather keep inside at the moment," I replied. Kei was silent for a couple of moments as she looked at me with an unsure expression in her eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking," Kei said as quietly as she could above the racket on the plane, "When is it? Your birthday, I mean."

"September 6th. It is hard for me to believe that 23 years has passed this fast." Kei looked at me with that weird face she had given me in the hangar the night before again. After a second of her confused state, she blinked it off and re-engaged in somewhat normal conversation.

"You said September 6th? 23 years old?"

"Yeah, that's what I said." She just smiled a bit and shook her head as if in disbelief. "Something wrong with my birthday?" I asked jokingly, glad for the distraction she was providing.

"It's just that you are three days older than me," she said still shaking her head slightly. My eyes widened at her statement.

"That's crazy," I said, starting to match her disposition. "First our assignments and then this."

"Tell me about it," she replied, a full-fledged smile coming across her face. Before our conversation could continue, the plane's engines came to life and the ramp began to close. We both sat back in our seats across from each other, realizing we had both leaned forward toward each other quite a bit during our discussion. I reached above my head and put the ear muffs over my head, Kei mirroring the action. The rest of the trip was devoid of conversation and sound for that matter. I had a hard time trying to put my eyes somewhere else other than on Kei's across from me. I could tell that she was having the same problem when my eyes came back to her what seemed like every ten seconds. Giving up, I just closed them and tried to make myself comfortable in the netting of the seat.

Somehow, I fell asleep during the flight and awoke when there was a sudden thud against the tarmac of Sand Island's runway. I could immediately feel the humidity and heat and my entire body down to my bones seemed to relax at the realization that they wouldn't be clattering against each other in this environment. I glanced over at Kei and she too, seemed to be enjoying the change in weather with the faint smile on her face. As we came to a gentle roll and eventual stop somewhere on the base, the engines spun down and the rear loading door came down, causing me to squint at the white out that blinded my vision for a moment.

As my eyes acclimated, I began to make out palm trees and white sand shores. The horizon was the flattest I had ever seen on land, interrupted only by some hangars, control tower, and what I assumed to be general quarters. There were some docks off to the far end of the island as well. The smell of salt was in the balmy breeze and as I removed my ear muffs, I could just make out the sound of some rock and roll blasting from somewhere and seagulls squawking. I undid the restraints on my chest and jumped out of the netting seat I had been trapped in, shaking my legs around to wake them back up. I grabbed my duffel and as I stepped off the plane, it became obvious to me I would have to get some aviators to block out the sun. Squinting just wasn't going to cut it here. I put my hand up to my eyes to act as a visor and did a more in-depth scan of the area. There wasn't anyone waiting for us and I knew I should report to the Base Commander as soon as possible.

As if the universe had heard my thoughts, one airman came jogging up to our stopped plane and when he recognized my ranks, saluted and said, "Good afternoon sir." I returned the gesture and he came back to a relatively relaxed state. "Sir the Base Commander, Colonel Perrault, asks you report to him immediately." I was a little annoyed that I hadn't even been on the island for half an hour and I was already being ordered around like I didn't know what to do, but it had to start somewhere.

"Would you mind showing me to his office?" I asked. He just nodded his head and led me towards the General Quarters building, the largest of the recognizable structures. Before we had taken more than three steps however, the man turned around again and asked me,

"Was there a second Lieutenant Nagase on that flight as well?" I looked behind me to see Kei just stepping out of the transport as well, shielding her eyes from the suns dazzling rays.

"There she is right now," I said, pointing her out to the man. He nodded and then called out to her.

"Second Lieutenant Nagase, the Base Commander wants you to report to him immediately as well." Kei looked at the airman and then at me and nodded, hopping down from the ramp of the transport and quickly joining up on my left side. Once she was in our small group, the airman led us off at a brisk pace into an AC chilled building. I momentarily got goose bumps as we entered and noticed Kei had the same reaction. As we continued through the base, I could clearly see the age coming through. This base had been continuously operated since the 70's as a staging point for spy operations, and it was in desperate need of some TLC. Some pieces of the drop ceiling were cracked, water stained, or just completely missing. The cinder block walls needed a fresh coat of paint and some of the bricks just needed to be replaced. The floor was a tile that hadn't been changed once since the start of this place and had multiple cracks, warped pieces, and in some small corners, exposed cement.

I quick glanced over at Kei and she seemed to be thinking the same thing. What we had thought was a step up was starting to look like seven steps back. The airman stopped in front of a door with a large name plaque on it, 'Colonel Orson Perrault.' The airman gave a quick salute which both Kei and I returned and as soon as he left, I turned to her to ask a question.

"Ladies first?" I said hopefully, not wanting to be the first one to meet the commander.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," she said, grinning as she knocked once and quickly darted away. I reached out to grab her but her actions had surprised me too much and as soon as I was able to react normally again she was too far away.

"Enter," said a gravelly voice from behind the door. Taking a nice, large swallow of saliva, I opened the door and rigidly approached, squaring my corners and stopping a foot away from the front of the desk. I stiffly saluted and started my statement.

"Sir, second Lieutenant-" but before I could finish my reporting statement the fat man behind the desk interrupted.

"Shove it and sit down." I was taken aback from the man's harsh words but quickly took a seat before he could find another reason to act sourly towards me. "Do you know why you are here?" he asked with a gruff voice that I found misplaced. This man was clearly trying to be intimidating but his obvious weight issues were undermining his efforts.

"Sir, to report to the Base Commander that I'm ready to integrate with Wardog squadron."

"Just as I thought. Another smart-ass rookie. Really, all you rookie pilots are too dumb to even know why a plane flies. Doesn't help that you're Usean." Oh, so he was one of those types. I had dealt with nationality issues through high school and some people were arrogant enough in college to bring it up, but this was new for me in the military. And I was pretty sure it was grounds for harassment as well. But I was bigger man than him, at least emotionally, and could take whatever he dished out.

"Sir, I do not understand."

"Of course you don't! Didn't you hear what I just said? Did they even teach you our language?" I found this statement hilarious as it showed how little he knew about North Point and ISAF in general. All countries under the ISAF banner spoke the same language which also happened to be the same language as Osea. In fact, almost the entire world could have a normal conversation with each other since the same language was taught to almost anyone who passed second grade. For a second, I had a deep philosophical thought about how we could all communicate clearly if we really wanted yet our history was so tainted with war. But the Colonel muttered some obscenities under his breath before continuing, causing me to drop all deep musings and listen to his already annoying voice. "You are here because the boys upstairs needed to put you in a squadron because of your..." he looked at me with obvious disgust."... Talent. But your lack of actual combat experience made them want you to be somewhere out of harm so you could become something of a use to this country you are squatting in." His slander was starting to make me push my nails into the palms of my hands. If this meeting didn't end soon, one of us would start to bleed.

"I don't trust you or people like you," he began anew. At least he said it out loud now. "I don't want to hear anything about you while you are on my base. Not a word. If I even get a funny feeling about anything pertaining to you, you will find yourself in so much shit that you will never get the smell off. Do I make myself clear?"

"Like purified water, sir."

"Are you making a joke, Lieutenant?" he asked, itching to hound me right then and there.

"No sir."

"Then get out of my office. You're stinking up the place with your Usean stench," he said as he waved his hand dismissively. I stood up and gave a salute.

"Good after-"

"GET OUT!" I calmly, yet swiftly, brought my hand back down and exited the room in the same fashion I had entered it. Once I was outside and shielded by a closed door, I unclenched my fists and checked the damage. Fingernail marks seemed to be permanently imprinted on my palms from the force I had been exerting. I looked up from my hands to see a shocked Kei in front of me. I gave her the best fake smile I could muster, but with the dark thoughts in my head, she saw through it like I had been advertising its falsehood.

"He had no excuse for talking to you like that. Why did you just let that happen?" she asked with a tint of anger behind her voice that surprised me a bit. I didn't expect this kind of support from someone I had just met.

"It's just talk. I've dealt with nastier high school students before," I said trying to play down the incident that she had heard. It was true, though. When I had started school in Osea, many kids found out about my original nationality as I hadn't known there was a reason to hide it until it was too late. Some of the kids were anti-immigration types, a stigma from their parents who thought that the influx of Usean refugees from the Ulysses event was the reason for all their problems.

"That was not just talk," she said flatly. "He just broke like... like 14 regulations! You need to report him."

"And what? Give him more cause to hate me? That would just feed him, and from the looks of him, he could go on a diet." The comment elicited a small smile from her that put us both at a little more ease. "The best way to deal with people like him is to do like you did and show up, break his expectations and make him eat his words, despite the diet thing." Kei let out a sigh like she had just finished a work out.

"Fine, if you say you can deal with it, I'll take your word. But don't let him walk all over you." A playful smile flashed across her face. "You might not live through it." I broke out in a large grin and struggled not to laugh in fear of the Colonel hearing me.

"You'd better wait for him to cool down before speaking with him," I told Kei as I started walking off to explore the base. "I don't think he wants visitors right now."

"Well in that case, care if I join you?" without waiting for a response, she quickly joined back up at my right as we began walking the halls.

"Not at all." It was 1427 and I hadn't had a bite of food since this morning at 0500. "Let's see if we can't find the mess. I don't know about you but I could use some food right about now." Kei just nodded enthusiastically as we started our exploring.

It was 1442 when we finally found the mess area and it was completely cleared out. Apparently not too many people eat lunch after nearly three hours past noon. I walked up to the beginning of the line, letting Kei in front of me. We were served a nice plate of spaghetti with red sauce and a slice of toast along with an apple and a tall glass of water. Say what you will about military cooking, this meal was delicious. We choose a window seat where we could look out on the runway. The transport we had arrived on was just finishing being refueled and was beginning to line up for a take-off. We both sat there and watched it as it speed off the runway, flying away in its lumbering beauty. I never got tired of watching planes take off. I had a feeling I would be sending a lot of time in here in this seat. I pulled my gaze from the window and began to eat my meal which had cooled considerably.

We were about half way through our meals when a man who was about two inches taller than me, making him about six feet, walked in. He had blue eyes that contrasted with his dark brown hair. His sideburns were very prevalent, almost out of regulations. He looked around the room searching for someone and when his eyes passed over us, he did a double take. Seeming to forget the other person he was searching for, he walked over to us, pulled up a chair and straddled it. Both Kei and I had slowly stopped eating our spaghetti; I still had a bit of noodle hanging out of my mouth, and just stared at the man waiting for him to explain his presence. His insignia was that of a second lieutenant as well and his name tag had 'Davenport' written across it. After a long and somewhat awkward silence he finally put forth his hand towards me. I sucked up the remaining noodles in my mouth and shook his hand with mine once my fork was on my plate.

"Hello," he stated, shaking my hand with vigor. "My name is Chopper. Well actually, no it's not. That's my call-sign. The real name is Alvin. Alvin Davenport. But everyone here just calls me Chopper. Or they should. I asked them to. Some people call me motor-mouth though. Well, actually, that's just what the Captain calls me." I finally was able to stop the hand shake and pry my hand, gently, away from his.

"Nice to meet you, Chopper," I said, being sure to use the name he had asked us to call him.

"Thanks man! I can tell we are gonna' get along just fine." He gave me a large slap on the back that made me hit the table and rattle the forks me and Kei had put down. He turned and held out his hand to Kei. When she reached forward for a shake however, he grabbed her hand and tried to bring it up to his mouth for a kiss before she swiped it out from his grasp and held it close to her chest with her other hand, turning away from him slightly.

"Ouch," he said with his hands held up defensively, a mock hurt look on his face. "Guess you don't respond well to chivalry."

"I..." Kei started, but she couldn't finish before she was cut off by Chopper.

"Just kidding." Chopper was obviously trying to having some fun that seemed very one sided. "So, you two must be the new members. What did you two do that pissed them off?" Kei and I looked at each other briefly before returning questioning gazes back to Chopper. "Oh, so they didn't tell you about this place, did they?"

"What are you talking about?" Kei asked quickly. She had a worried frown on her face.

"This is the place where they put people they don't want to deal with. They can't get rid of you in the typical sense, but they stick you here and you are as good as gone in their world."

"But that can't be right," I started. "Second Lieutenant Nagase and I were the best pilots in training. Why would they waste our skill here?" Kei briefly smiled at me for the discrete complement I had given her, but returned her worried gaze back to Chopper in a heartbeat, waiting for his explanation.

"Man, I don't know. I didn't put you here. All I know is that I was transferred here when I was told to stop unnecessary radio chatter and didn't. The Captain is here because he used to have a lover in the Yuke re-con division 15 years ago, and I'm assuming at least one of you has meet the..." he looked around quickly before finishing in soft voice that surprised me and Kei both. "... 'BIG' guy up stairs." He air quoted big and made sure to raise his eyebrows if it wasn't enough of a hint. "I'm telling you. This is the place the OADF sends their problems to go away." I glanced at Kei again and could see she had a troubled look clouding her face.

"We aren't problems. We are here because this was the place we were needed. Not because someone wanted to get rid of us." I was trying to alleviate any feelings of inadequacy Kei was probably feeling. She had worked so hard to get where she was only to be told now she was being sent away because she was a problem.

"Whatever man, just telling you like it is." Kei suddenly got up from the table, muttering a soft, 'excuse me' before briskly walking out the room. Chopper watched her leave and then looked at me with a confused scowl. "Was it something I said or is the food really that bad?" I let out a frustrated sigh before palming my forehead.

"You just called her a 'problem.' How did you think she would react?" A face of realization came upon the man's face as what I had just said hit him.

"Oh..." He looked towards the door Kei had gone through and then back at me. "Hey, I'm sorry man. I didn't mean to hurt your girl-" I stopped him there.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. She isn't mine." Chopper seemed to be confused for a moment.

"But you were acting like-"

"Women are like glass Pandora boxes," I said deciding to ignore where he was going. I stood up and grabbed mine and Kei's plates. "Easy to break and when you do..." Chopper nodded in understanding. "Come on. Let's go find her and see if we can't fix this." I walked over to a dish return area and placed the dishes on the counter, walking out of the mess with Chopper.

"I'm starting to see another reason why they put me here," he said to me as we started walking around. "I really don't think about what I'm gonna say before I open my mouth. I need a filter."

"Well, it can be something we work on. You're a pilot too I assume?"

"Yeah. Wardog squadron. We're in the middle of our combat training and I was looking for my friend, Baker. He's another pilot here in training. We were going to go over some advanced counter maneuvers. Don't tell the guy this, but he sucks when it comes to getting people off his tail. Svevson and him both." We walked around in silence a while longer before Chopper asked an obvious question. "Do you know where you're going? It seems like you're just walking anywhere your feet take you."

"I've only been here about an hour and a half." I told Chopper as he laughed heartily.

"Well that explains a lot." We continued walking for a bit before Chopper made a suggestion. "Why don't we split and cover some ground faster. If you find her, tell her I said I'm really sorry for what I said and that I'm just a big mouth without a brain. What do you want me to tell her if I find her?"

"I didn't hurt her feelings," I said defensively.

"Yeah, but she obviously cares about what you have to say." What did he mean, 'obviously?'

"Uh, just tell her, she's a good pilot who earned what she's got."

"Uh-uh. Anything else?" Chopper asked, a sly smile coming across his face.

"I told you," I said, a red tint coming across my face, "she isn't 'my girl.'"

"Whatever man," he said as he walked down a hallway to the right. I stood there for a moment watching him walk off. Now I needed to find her before he did and said something he shouldn't. I choose the hall to the left. She couldn't have wandered off far, we had only visited a small portion of the base, and she had probably stayed in the areas she knew about. I walked back outside into the warmth and humidity of the tropical climate. I just had to stop for a moment and close my eyes, letting the warm wind tease my short hair.

I started scanning the beach area in front of me and spotted her about 200 yards away under one of the short bushes that looked like a miniature palm tree. Her duffel bag was beside her and she was holding something in her lap. I started walking towards her position and when I reached 50 yards of her location, she seemed to hear me and stuff whatever she had been holding into her bag. When I was at her position I stood there for a moment, thinking on what I was going to say before I decided that I probably shouldn't say anything until she was ready to talk. I sat down in the sandy ground with her and just looked out at the ocean for a while, keeping quiet.

"Thanks," Kei murmured. She said it so soft that I had to lean towards her a bit to hear. I looked directly at her face for the first time since we had been outside and noticed she had red puffy eyes. I had to walk on egg shells now.

"For what?" I asked cautiously. I didn't remember doing anything 'thanks' worthy. When she stayed quiet, I spoke up again. "Nagase, don't listen to what Chopper had to say. He's just trying to justify the reason he came here by assuming everyone here is a problem. And trust me, you aren't a problem." Kei looked up at me for a moment before speaking.

"I know I'm not a problem, it's just..." as she trailed off, her hands flopped to the ground and put her head down.

"What?" I asked softly. She looked back up at me with fresh tears starting to come to the corners of her eyes.

"It's just that, I've been marginalized before, you know, with the OTS stuff. Just thinking that they put me on this island just to get rid of me, it's like," she balled up her fist and slammed it into the sandy ground, making me jump a little. "They're actively trying to push me into obscurity." She unclenched her fist and smoothed over the crater she had made, making it like it had never happened.

"It's like I said Nagase." She looked up from her smoothing efforts. "We're here because we're needed here." She sat there looking at me, her eyes darting every few seconds to some new part of my face. After a moment she gave a faint smile and curt nod. "Good," I said causing her to blink suddenly. "How about we meet that Base Commander now?" She looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"So you came here to cheer me up and then tell me to walk into a meeting with a man who insulted you to the point of self-inflicted pain?" She wiped her eyes and sniffled one last time. "Well," she said with a smile growing on her face, "challenge accepted." She slugged me in the arm, jumped up with surprising speed, and snatched her duffel bag before she began racing towards the base. I sat there in surprise for a moment before realizing she was getting away. I jumped up and chased her down to the door of the facility, grabbing my unloaded duffel near the door along the way.

When we reached Colonel Perrault's office, I waited as Kei went in. Her meeting with the man was considerably longer and quieter and when she walked out, she seemed okay, although her face seemed paler than before, if that was possible.

"How did it go?" I asked in genuine curiosity.

"He is big. And he was a lot nicer to me than he was to you for certain," she said, not quite looking at me or anything in particular, she seemed kind of dazed. I checked my watch and saw it was 1758.

"How about we talk more about it over some dinner?" I asked, wanting to get her out of whatever state she was in. It seemed to work because she blinked a couple of times looked at me directly, a curious look in her eyes.

"What? Oh. Yeah, that sounds good. Dinner." We picked up our bags and walked to the mess hall considerably faster than we had the first time around. The room was much busier as well. We got in line and were served some potatoes and a slice of ham with some green beans. We both got a glass of milk this time and took another window seat and began eating. It was quiet for a while, the two of us just eating, not looking at anything other than the food on our plates. My curiosity was driving me nuts as to what had gone on in the office between Kei and the Colonel, but I kept my questions bottled up. She would tell me when she was ready. I ate much faster than Kei did and sat in silence while she finished up her meal. That was when I looked at her plate and noticed she had hardly touched anything. Something must've really been bothering her. She noticed me eyeing her plate and herself and finally spoke up.

"I bet your wondering what we talked about," she said with a sigh.

"That obvious?" I said with a smile, trying to alleviate any tension that was building with humor. It didn't work.

"I'll tell you what went on, but first I want some answerers of my own." She had a fire in her eyes that frightened me a little.

"Sure, I'll tell you what I can." I said casually, albeit a little curious as to where the conversation was going.

"No, you have to tell me everything," she said narrowing her eyes. Great, what had that pig-headed man said that made her so hostile towards me?

"Nagase, what's going on?" She lost the stern look in her eyes and softened her gaze. She folded her arms in her lap and looked down at her hands.

"I'm sorry, it's just the Base Commander said some things and I, I just want to know the truth." When she finished she looked back up at me. "Let's go somewhere a little more private." She started getting up but I quickly acted to stop her.

"What about dinner? You've barley eaten anything." She put a faint smile to her pale thin lips.

"I'm not that hungry." She started moving again and I let her get up and followed. Once we returned our dishes, we walked outside again and towards the spot I had found Kei earlier that day. We were still lugging around our duffel's and I was beginning to wonder where I would be bunking when Kei plopped herself down into the sand. I put down my baggage and sat next to her. The sun was to our left and was turning the sky into different shades of red. "The Colonel had some interesting things to say about you," she paused a moment and looked down at her feet briefly before looking directly into my face. "And your father." I sat there for a second, registering what she had just said. My father? What did he have to do with any of this?

"What about my father?" I asked, not sure what she was talking about. I knew he had been a pilot in ISAF but other than that, a lot of his past I didn't know. I only met him when I was 12 and now he was gone with any secrets he hadn't told me.

"Be honest with me, do you know who your father was?" Her question probably would've seemed odd to anyone but me.

"I was 'assigned' a new family after the Ulysses disaster killed my real one," I began. Kei nodded like she knew this, so I continued. "Everything was good for a while. We learned how to live with each other and eventually love each other. Then the continental war broke out in Usea. We lived in North Point so my father was drafted to ISAF as a pilot. He fought for just over a year until the war ended. As soon as it did, we moved here, to Osea, and became citizens pretty fast so I could participate in the OADF scholarship stuff." I looked at Kei and her face hadn't changed, so I kept going. "I earned the scholarship, and went to Oured for college. Freshman year though, my dad was called back by ISAF for 'one final mission.' after about three months, he came back. Back in January, He and my mother were killed in a robbery gone wrong while I was at college. Got put into pilot school after that and, well, now we are here."

"You didn't answer my question. Do you know who your father was?" Kei asked with a hint of sadness and frustration in her voice.

"He was a pilot for ISAF during the continental war." Kei huffed and rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up and letting them flop onto the sandy ground. "I swear that's all I know about him. I never really asked him about his war experience, it was personal stuff. You know? And I don't think he would've told me anyways, he always said that everything he did he had to keep secret, but he did it to keep us safe. That was enough for me." Kei looked at me with a conflicted face, like she was trying to figure something out. Finally she spoke up.

"Caden..." When she used my name, I felt goose bumps travel up my arm despite the balmy weather. "Your father was Mobius One." The words hung in the air for a while, then in my brain, reverberating in my skull like there was nothing in there. Finally, my thinking caught up with the world and just put out three words.

"That's not possible." But part of me was already building a case for its possibility. Vague stories about his engagements, the tide of war turning when he was drafted, his secrets he had kept, and even the three months away were evidence for this new revelation. But he couldn't have been Mobius One. He had been too, normal. He had been my dad. He had a wife and a son he had been proud to call just that. Mobius One didn't have those things. How could Osea know anyways? The fast citizenship. Was that because they knew? Who else knew? Was I the only one out of the loop? Kei must've been able to read my thoughts through my expressions.

"Only the high ranking officials know who he was. Your father that is. You really didn't know, did you?" Her voice was soft and gentle, but it did nothing to stop the stream of questions that were filtering into my head. Eventually, some made it to my mouth.

"How did the Colonel find out? Who told him? Why did he tell you? Is that why he was like, well, like he was?" I felt like a crazed man and I was pretty sure the expression on my face wasn't helping. Kei took it in stride though. Apparently she had prepared herself for this.

"The Colonel heard it on accident and thinks it's some kind of dirt he can use strategically. He told it to me because he thought I would side with him in terms of trying to get you out of OADF." I looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Why would he think that?" She looked at me a bit longer, the same conflicted look on her face.

"He thinks we would be natural enemies, both great pilots and all. He thought that you and I would be biting at the heels to try to get the other out of here." I looked at her to see what she thought about that. Seeing my expectant gaze she continued quickly, "I don't think he will be making that mistake again. I told him that the only thing that would make me want you out of here would be if you started acting like him." I opened my mouth with genuine surprise. Had she really told him that? How was she still alive?

"How come there wasn't any retaliation?" I asked, still stunned.

"After dropping that on him, I walked out and here we are." She then got a playful smile to replace her matter-of-fact tone, "Though I'm a little jealous that your dad was the greatest fighter pilot in the 21st century."

"Thanks," I said slowly to the weird complement. I was still reeling from all the information and revelations I was having. I then started to feel the tiredness of the day coming upon me and I still hadn't found my bunk for the night. Kei could see the tiredness in my eyes.

"Come on, let's head on back and get our rooms situated. Before I left the Colonel, he told me everyone gets our own. So few people are stationed here that they can afford the luxury." She got up from her spot and I followed suit, warily picking up my bag of belongings. We trekked to the base and once Nagase had shown me my room, I flopped on the bed, not even putting linens on.


	3. -Swing of Things-

**Swing of Things**

The next couple of weeks were hectic to say the least. Kei and I had our birthdays go unnoticed by the rest of the base though we did make sure to say the sentiment to each other. I meet Captain Bartlett of Wardog, a gruff man who was about my height and stature. He had a tough guy persona that he hardly ever let down except when he was hanging around Pops, our lead flight mechanic. They seemed to be best friends with the way they hung out together and cracked jokes. The Captain had us flying almost every day to get us in shape to become combat ready fighter pilots. When he found out about Kei's and my skill, he started flying us separately from each other or against each other. His reasoning behind it when I asked him was because if we flew together any more than we had to, we would be able to overtake his lead position. It was a lame excuse but I didn't ask him anymore about it.

Chopper eventually mellowed out or maybe I became more used to him, either way, he became less annoying to me and more humorous. Even Kei warmed up to him and cracked a smile every once in a while. A reporter named Albert Genette came to the island one day and everyone seemed to become a little more strict and orderly. He was doing a report on what life was like for fighter pilots in peace time, although more than once he could be heard talking about how he wanted a one on one interview with Captain Bartlett himself. Then one day, Bartlett finally gave in to an interview under one condition; it would be in his 'office.' When Genette asked what that meant, he just laughed and said,

"Hope you can hold your stomach. I don't like it when Pops complains about cleaning vomit in my cockpit."

The day was set for the 20th of September and preparation began for the day. Pilots started drilling more rigorously so that they might impress Genette and get an interview of their own. Kei and I had to flip a coin to see who would be flying during the 'interview' and the fates choose her. Chopper was already grounded that day for a mandatory mental evaluation. He had mentioned something about killing himself if food didn't get better and the Base Commander, like anything he heard, took it seriously. The Captain would fly an F-4G to carry both him and Genette. Everyone else would be in the standard F-5's. When the day finally came I woke up late at 0800 and went to the dining hall to grab a bite and watch the planes take off. I was surprised to see the whole group of pilots still sitting around, empty bowls in front of them and chatting with each other. Kei saw me walk in and waved franticly when she saw me. She had become very comfortable around me and the rest of the pilots on base, opening up compared to the isolated person she had been at Heierlark. She was beginning to call this place home and all of us her family. I had to admit to thinking the same way. When I sat down at the table with a bowl of oatmeal, Svevson and Baker also greeted me with smiles and small waves.

"Excited?" I asked Kei who grinned with clear, joyful energy.

"Nah," she said, her wide grin telling me different. Svevson spoke up when he heard Kei speak.

"Phft, like shit you aren't." He turned to me and began again, "Blaze, the only way she could be more excited was if it was a full out mock battle between you and her." Then after a moment he added, "Or you and her against all of us." The rest of the room broke out in some laughter at the comment. It was becoming an inside joke that me and Kei could shoot down the entire squadron if we worked together, and still have enough ammo to decimate the Belken air force. Everyone on base thought it was funny except, of course, the Colonel, who thought it was an accurate prediction of what I was going to do someday, exception being he thought that instead of going after Belka, I would betray Osea.

When the laughter died down a little to a level where I could speak to Kei again, I asked her why she was still here.

"Oh," she said, the grin on her face abating for a moment, enough for her to speak clearly. "We're waiting for Genette. He's not quite used to the schedule of the military yet. As soon as he is up and fed, if he wants it, we will be in the air showing our stuff." I nodded in understating and waited with her and the others for Genette. Around 0850, he came walking in with messy hair and sleeping attire still on. He had just woken up. The pilots scheduled to fly got up and began to ready themselves and their planes for the day while I remained seated by the window that would give me the view of the planes as they took off. Genette got out of the chow line and came to sit next to me at the window. After a moment, he asked me a question before digging in to his own oatmeal.

"So what's it like being a war plane pilot in peace time?" He took his spoonful of food and placed it in his mouth as quietly as he could, trying not to draw my attention away from thinking of an answer. I didn't mind Genette, some other pilots thought his questions were annoying and thought that his presence here was bringing the hammer on us. In reality, it was probably me and Kei bringing the more strict training and schedules but what they didn't know couldn't hurt them. I thought on the question for a bit and answered,

"It's like being the only race car driver on Sunday. You've got this really fast car and a fine road to drive it on but no competition to race against. It's nice in some ways because you can mess around, experiment a little with what works and what doesn't, but it can also get pretty boring going around and around. I'm lucky to have other pilots to 'practice' with." Genette nodded thoughtfully with his oatmeal still in his mouth. Once he swallowed, he began talking again.

"Thanks for the insight. I've always wanted to have something to do with flying, but my eyes weren't good enough for the OADF. I still wanted to do something though, you know, let people know what really is going on, so I became a reporter. I still don't know if it was the right choice. You're one of the few people on base who will answer questions." He looked thoughtfully out the window as the sun continued working its way up into the sky. I looked at my watch and saw it was almost 0915. Genette noticed me glancing at my watch and stole a glance at his own, arching his eyebrows in surprise. "I guess my questions aren't the only thing people don't like about me. Need to start being a bit more punctual. Thanks again for the insight."

He got up from the table quickly and dropped off his dishes in a hurry, rushing out the door towards the hangars. I smiled slightly and thought about how Captain Bartlett might try to have a little revenge on the poor reporter for his tardiness. Not more than ten minutes later, I could see Genette running towards the hangars with a camera strapped around his chest. I got up from my spot and walked outside to get a better view of the planes that would be taking off. As I stepped outside into the tropical weather, I could already hear the planes cycling up their engines. Slowly, one by one, they came out of their encasements and lined up on the runway. It looked like they would be doing a rapid deployment take-off to start off the 'show' for Genette. I spotted Kei's number seven plane near the end of the line, followed only by Svevson and the last trainer. There were two flights of four F-5's with trainers mixed in with the rookies and then the lone F-4G that Captain Bartlett and Genette were in at the front of the line.

They were halted on the runway for about a minute before the Captains plane lurched forward, followed quickly by the eight other planes. I watched longingly as the planes climbed higher into the sky, eventually becoming nothing more than faint pin-pricks in the bright blue sky. I walked back indoors to go work out in the gym. During my work out on the bench press, I noticed a lot of running around in the halls. It got to the point where I wiped down my station and went to see what all the fuss was about. When I saw an airman running down the halls I quickly asked him what was up.

"Sir, there has been an incident with the reporters demonstration. Unidentified planes have engaged the group and there have been heavy losses. We are scrambling to get ready for an emergency landing. All other details are a little sketchy at the moment." He quickly turned and continued on his way he had been going before I had interrupted him. It seemed like I had stood there for the rest of the day before I came to my senses and ran outside, adrenalin making the run seem like seconds and the distance seem like inches. Once I was outside, I could immediately spot the planes, partially because one of them had a dark black smoke trail. I quickly saw two other planes on either side of the damaged craft, acting as spotters for the wounded bird. The pounding in my head subsided enough that I could hear an emergency vehicles horn wail in the distance, coming to the end of the runway to chase down the plane as it landed.

I then thought about who had made it. The plane trailing smoke was an F-5 and I could make out the F-4G. That meant that Bartlett and Genette had for sure made it but the other two planes could be anyone. I began hopping reverently that Kei had made it. I couldn't imagine enduring the rest of flight training without her there to back me up. She was irreplaceable to me, special. I began panicking at the thought of losing her. I looked back up into the sky and saw the damaged plane making its approach. I could clearly see the damage now. The whole back end of the plane seemed to be damaged, like a missile had prematurely detonated and hadn't taken out both engines. I breathed out a breath larger than I thought possible when I saw Kei's number seven plane undamaged trailing behind the smoking craft.

The plane with damage was all over the place as he closed in on the runway. He was definitely making an effort but I could already tell it was in vain. Apparently he didn't think so, or he did and couldn't eject. Either way, the plane suddenly pitched down at too severe of an angle and nose planted into the runway, creating a giant heap of burning metal before violently exploding in a nova that cause me to turn away. The emergency vehicles valiantly rushed towards the wreckage as the Kei and Bartlett circled around for their approach. They must've been running on fumes or else they would've waited for the fire to be extinguished. My suspicion on low fuel was proven when they performed a risky simultaneous landing.

I began running towards the outdoor parking area for the fighters but my adrenalin had left me and I was sore from working out. I began to get a side cramp and scolded myself for not hydrating better in this hot and humid environment. I reduced my painful running to a pitiful jog. I eventually came up to the area and could see Bartlett and Genette walking away from the F-4G, Genette having somewhat of a difficult time keeping up with the fuming Captain. I was just close enough to hear him yell out to Kei.

"Nagase, you keep flying like that and you'll die real soon." I looked back towards where he and Genette were focusing and saw her still standing next to her plane, looking off into the sky. Her mouth moved, but I couldn't make out what she was saying through the blood rushing through my ears. I restarted my struggle to see what kind of condition she was in. I heard Genette's camera click with the sound of a shutter closing and looked up to see Kei smiling at me. She tucked her helmet under her arm and began walking towards me. I can't remember who started running, but someone did and we both ended up that way, concluding with a comforting hug. We stayed like that for a lengthy amount of time. Or maybe not. All I know was that it was long enough to make Genette uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, reminding us both of his presence. We quickly released each other from the comforting embrace and awkwardly turned our faces away from each other.

"I'm glad you're okay," I said once we had retracted from each other. Kei just nodded, regaining her somber demeanor she had when she had been standing next to the plane. Genette looked at us for a moment and then began walking back into the base. I stepped to the left of Kei and started walking in the same direction. Kei lagged behind for a moment and then realized we were heading back inside. When we got to the air conditioned building, I began to shiver as the sweat I had worked up began to drop my body temperature like a lead sinker. I didn't say anything to Kei as we walked. I knew she was probably upset or scared or just wanted to be alone, so I began walking towards my room to find some clothes to change into after a nice long shower. However, as I began walking away, Kei reached out and grabbed the sleeve of my workout shirt. I looked back at her in surprise.

"Please don't go. Not yet, as least... um..." At first, the look she had in her eyes had been pleading me with every fiber of their being to stay near her. But the next moment, they were hidden from view out of some sort of embarrassment. I began to turn towards her again. She was still in her flight suit and I knew how hot those got in weather like this and in high intensity situations she had been in. She really needed company if she was able to ignore that and my own stench. At my silence she continued, "I just need to bring what happened to the front of my mind and get it out." Then she added with the same faint smile she had flashed me when she had seen me a few moments ago, "All you have to do is sit and nod at what I'm saying." I nodded my head at her and she smiled a little bit more. "Yeah, just like that."

She led me in the direction of the mess hall. Once we reached the table we had sat at on our first day, she took a seat and I followed suit. She looked out the window for a long time before saying anything, her brown eyes dilating wider and narrower every time her gaze shifted the tinniest bit. I followed her gaze to a flock of birds that hung around the island. They weren't annoying gulls like I had thought the first time I had heard them, but instead were some kind of diving bird that hunted fish in the shallower waters near the island. Today they were just gliding on the steady breeze the island had, majestically trimming their feathers to alter their flight paths. Kei finally spoke up.

"I had hoped I would go through my entire career without having to fire live ammo. I had hoped I would never have to take someone else's life." She took her gaze from the flying birds and back to me. "Those hopes died today, along with some people."

I looked her in the face and saw it was hard and stoic. It surprised me a bit, to see this woman who had cried over smaller things just a couple of weeks ago now being cold and emotionless at the discussion of real combat and death.

"We were doing fine up until we were alerted of the leaker aircraft. Bartlett told some of the other pilots to drop down to where they would be below the engagement zone, but the control room was careless about their measurements. Blaze, eight people died today. And that was just our side. Everyone who died today had a history, a past, and now that part of history is erased. Forever. We lost part of our history today. It's all so pointless." Her face began to tremble a little. "I killed a person today. I wiped out a bit of this worlds history. It was terrible. But I knew if I didn't do it, we would've lost so much more." She started looking back out the window. She was obviously distressed and her eyes began to leak salty water.

I reached towards her hand and held it, causing her to jump slightly at the initial touch but relax immediately after. She looked down at our hands first and then into my eyes as I spoke. "You did what you had to. No one can blame you for what happened; only you know if things could've gone differently. And I'm glad they didn't because then you might not be here. The only person you can blame for that persons death is them-selves." She turned away from me and towards the window, her cheeks flushing with red. "If you need to talk some more, you know where to find me." Without turning away from the window, she nodded in understanding and I got up to leave.

"Thanks," she said as I pushed my chair back in.

"No thanks necessary. Friends help friends out." I turned and walked out of the room leaving a contemplative woman sitting by herself, thinking out her problems in a quiet solstice. I walked to my room and grabbed a fresh change of clothes and hit the showers. When I was done, I headed to my room to do some leisurely reading. After a couple of pages of my book, an airman popped in the door frame and told me that the base was put on high alert. I thanked him as he rushed down the hall to find another pilot to inform. I tried to get back into reading the book, but it was pointless. My mind began to wander and wonder. I thought about the aggressor planes and who they could've been, how the control tower could've misplaced zeros in such a crucial moment, how Kei was able to survive the engagement unscathed while two of the instructors had died. I had been staring out my window for a long while and didn't notice that someone had sneaked into my room. That is, until they spoke up.

"Hey, how was she?" Chopper asked in low and somber tone that was uncharacteristic of him. He caused me to jump nonetheless.

"Jeez, Chopper. A little knock or something next time would be great," I said as I swiveled my chair around to face him. His face was missing his usual mischievous grin and his eyes were darker than normal. He came into my room and sat on the couch that was on one of the walls. He began looking out of the window as well. His mood was starting to make me realize how serious the situation had been. For a man who was usually a chipper as Chopper to be in a downtrodden mood like he was in, well, that took a lot of bad to happen.

"We almost lost her today," He continued, not taking his gaze from the window. "Those block-heads working the radar need to go back to school. They aren't even going to get written up for it! Can you believe that?! They 'kill' eight people and all they do is give them a couple of slaps on the wrist and tell them 'don't do it again.' They didn't even write up a report. This is all going down as if it didn't even happen. This sucks, man."

I sat patiently through Choppers rant. I didn't like it any more than he did, but I knew I needed to restrain my own feelings. I couldn't let my personal thoughts sway how I took orders. "Chopper, I know how you feel right now. But it could've been worse. Like you said, we almost lost Nagase, but we didn't. She is strong enough to stay alive. We need to have that strength to move past this and continue to be 100%."

Chopper tore his gaze from the window and with the slightest of smiles on his face, said, "Wow, where did you get that one? A fortune cookie?" We shared a quick chuckle and after some lingering outbursts had been cleared we returned to our somber tone. "Thanks kid. You sure know how to calm me down. Kinda' like a song I know. Anyway, see you around, and, take care of her. She looks up to you more than you know." He got up from the sofa and walked out of the room.

The next couple of days, nothing happened. Everyone was on pins and needles. Nothing had been reported to anyone on the mainland and it seemed like everything was going to just go away. But that was asking for too much. On the 24th, a call came in from the mainland telling us that they had damaged a spy plane, a SR-71, but it was still making its way back to its base of operations. They were careful not to say the craft was Yuktobanian, though it was heading back that way. They wanted us to scramble and take out the plane before any sensitive information could be sent back. Before we launched, the Captain called us in for a preflight briefing. We all filed into the room and he took a deep breath while looking up at the ceiling from his chair. He quickly assigned us our spots for the flight, surprising me when he assigned Kei spot two. He clearly thought she was over the traumatic experience from a couple of days ago. Chopper was spot three and he put me in the tail of the formation.

We were up in the air within the hour and we were coming up on an intersection point. I was getting distracted by the large, gray clouds that were forming everywhere. It looked like a rain storm was coming soon. Lightning was so beautiful up here in the sky.

"Wardog four? Hello? Can you hear me, kid? You better be markin' our tail, son." This was going to be like my flight instructor all over again. I decided I would try a different tactic than long drawn out answers and go with short as possible.

"Yes, sir." Very short.

"Looks like you're confident, at least. Don't get separated from me." I just rolled my eyes and twiddled the flight stick a little bit. The F-5 felt a lot more maneuverable than my trainer and I knew with its after-burning capabilities, it was substantially faster. I was scanning the horizon when I saw a black fleck through the clouds. Apparently the Captain saw it as well. "Tally Ho, We've got company, let's go. You're forbidden to fire until I give permission, understand?" I answered confidently, thinking that the rest of the group would be answering as well.

"Roger that, sir." I sat for an extra second before I realized I was the only one who responded.

"Good boy." I felt like I was the captain's dog with the way he was addressing me. Through my helmet, I swore I heard Kei laughing but it was too soft for me to be sure. I pulled my plane forward just enough to see into her cockpit and sure enough, her body was bouncing up and down with the movements of laughter. I would have to ask about that later. "Alright, where's Motor-mouth Chopper?" I dropped out of the conversation and formation, probably to the frustration of Captain Bartlett; he knew how much I liked to fly around during missions. I pulled my plane to the left side of the Blackbird, its huge frame out sizing me by a factor of four. Chopper called out to the pilot to land at a designated landing site when the plane turned in almost the opposite direction. I was wondering what was going on but didn't have to as soon as Thunderhead, our boss in the sky, told us more bogeys were inbound, same vectors as the time Kei had been attacked.

As soon as I got their heading and relative position on radar, I throttled towards them at max dry thrust. I wasn't going to risk these bastards shooting down my friends. We had been loaded out for a diverse engagement, although I was a little confused why they had strapped bombs to us in an operating area of our own territory. I quickly took stock of the weapons I could use against aerial targets. My two 20mm cannons were loaded to the brim with enough bullets for 30 seconds of sustained fire. Two sidewinder heat seeking missiles were on my wing tips and, of course, six 500lb bombs were under my wings and fuselage. Stupid. With all the weight my plane was carrying, my speed wasn't what I wanted it to be, but I still intercepted the bogeys within eight seconds. The planes were in an area where it had begun to rain. The water pelted the canopy of my craft but never stuck around long enough to cause blurriness. The range I could see at decreased severely though. Bartlett was yelling at me not to do anything rash... yet, but I still got on one of the unidentified crafts six-o-clock. Thunderhead was also making sure that we weren't going to fire. But as soon as the rest of my flight was visible to the other three aircraft, they opened fire. Chopper had to weave around some tracers that whizzed by his plane. That was when Bartlett changed his tune.

"Fire back!" he shouted at us. Thunderhead began complaining about ignoring orders but I was with the Captain on this one. Lives were at stake and we had better situational awareness and could make the better call. No more dying.

I took a deep breath and pulled my gun trigger on the flight stick. The pilot in front of me must've come straight out of flight school, either he never noticed me or was too ignorant of the fact that I was at his six. The bright muzzle flashes in front of my cockpit terminated with the engine of his plane, exploding in a bright fire ball as unused fuel ignited. I quickly yanked back on the stick, causing the plane to flash upwards with more agility than I was used to. I sunk hard into my seat and gasped as the air left me. Before I could think about the stupidity of my maneuver, I already spotted another enemy. He was climbing higher to join his wingman on Choppers tail. I tapped into the after-burners at a 70 degree angle to meet him before he could assist and grunted with the further G load on my body. Within a couple of seconds, I was in firing range and the computers were already working to get me a shot. Another flash of the cannons and the second plane had a structural weakness in the wing great enough to cause it to detach and destabilize the whole plane. The pilot bailed out, the cockpit of his plane temporally engulfed in flame. Now it was time to deal with Choppers tail.

"Chopper, hang in there man, I'm coming to sanitize your six," I yelled out to him. His response proved to me he took everything like a joke.

"Kid that just sounded like you were going to wipe my butt. Next time- AHH!" Chopper yelled as the pilot behind him opened fire with his cannons. "Okay, kid, just wipe my butt already!" Despite the circumstances, I grinned a little and continued to rocket up to Choppers altitude. I positioned myself behind the plane and followed for a couple of moments to ensure I had a good angle on him. I pulled down on the trigger on the flight stick and sent a couple of rounds into the plane's fuselage. It wasn't enough to destroy the plane but the pilot clearly freaked out. He disengaged from Chopper and almost humorously bailed out of the wounded bird. The plane continued to fly straight for a couple of moments before tilting left and destabilizing into a spiral nose dive into the water below. While tracking the falling plane I noticed the SR-71 taking a dip as well.

"Enemy recon plane down!" Thunderhead shouted, letting the rest of the group know.

"Aww, that's a shame. Too tired to party?" Bartlett let out. He was sticking with Kei and they were tackling the last enemy fighter. Or so we thought.

"New enemy formation on radar," Thunderhead informed again. I checked my own instruments and again, from the same heading, more enemies. I joined up with the Captain and Kei and Chopper joined up on my side.

"You mind if I grab this kill? I will you know." Chopper was asking to get in on the action I was having but before I could answer, Bartlett spoke up, thinking the question was directed at him.

"Go ahead." Chopper grunted a little at the Captain and muttered under his breath something I couldn't hear. We were on top of the enemy and broke off into our elements again. To Choppers credit, He stuck to one of the targets extremely well, but every time he got a chance to fire, he would focus so much on trying to get the shot off that the pilot maneuvered out of the way while Chopper slacked on the controls. In frustration, he finally pulled back a bit behind me and grumbled. Taking it as permission to get the kill, I pulled behind the pilot and opened fire on a horizontal stabilizer as well as the rear right vertical stabilizer. The plane entered a flat spin and the pilot knew he wouldn't be able to recover and ejected from his falling plane.

"Dogfighting sucks, man." Chopper said in an elevated voice.

"You said it," Nagase said in a softer tone that seemed to be disconnected from the fight. I remembered how she was saddened by staining the skies with death, but she knew it was kill or be killed and could pull her own weight.

"Hold your fire," Thunderhead commanded. I couldn't believe this guy. We would be shot down if we held back any more than what we had given. I was about to say something to him when the wingman of the pilot we had shot down showed up on our six. I pulled a tight Immelmann turn once to change direction to get behind him, and again, to orientate my plane correctly. The plane was dancing all over the place and my cannons were starting to dry up. I fell back a little and armed my sidewinders. They would be useless if the pilot deployed any counter measures or even maneuvered well enough, so I tangoed with him for a solid fifteen seconds before I was satisfied my missiles tone. I pulled the trigger launching the missile at fierce speeds towards the plane. Within a couple of seconds the warhead detonated right behind the aircraft's exhaust and the plane blew forward for a moment and then splintered apart, the rear of it totally shredded.

"Kid that was just your fifth kill! I believe that makes you an ace!" Chopper exclaimed excitedly. I smiled inwardly as I realized he was right, but now wasn't the time for celebration.

"That's all fine and dandy, but we still have people we need to help, Chopper." I didn't want to sound like I wasn't ungrateful for the praise he was throwing my way, but there were still two planes playing cat and mouse with Kei and Bartlett.

"Right, let's go help those two out."

"Any day, you guys," Kei called out sounding like she was in distress. Chopper and I punched it towards their location to find both the Captain and Kei elegantly switching spots to keep the enemy in confusion. When they could, they would dive into a dark cloud in an effort to lose their pursuers, but the enemy craft would wisely wait above the clouds waiting for them to reappear.

"Chopper, go ahead and choose one plane," I told him, "I'll get the other."

"You sound a lot like a Captain, Blaze," Bartlett commented. He sounded cool and under control despite the circumstance he was in. Chopper went for the lead enemy plane so I got on the trailing ones six. We weaved and dived and darted all over the sky. I needed to get a shot off on this guy. I was down to maybe a second or two of cannon fire and a sidewinder that wouldn't track the guy with the way he was maneuvering. I got in close, maybe less than 100 yards, and fired into the rear of the plane with my cannons. The effect was immediate. The pilot didn't eject like some of his friends though. He was determined. He tried turning his plane to engage my other team-mates in an act of desperation. I was out of bullets but his sluggish plane would be an easy kill for a sidewinder now.

"Blaze, fox two," I announced when I pulled the trigger for the firing of the missile. Half a second later, the plane was falling into the sea below; leaving a dark black smoke trailing behind it that was never joined with a parachute. I tore my gaze from the plummeting wreck and called out to Chopper. "I'm Winchester, and at fuel state joker. Chopper, how are you handling that last plane?"

"He's down. Took the three of us and some fancy flying but he is going to become one with the ocean here pretty soon. And not in the Zen master way either."

"All unknown bogey aircraft destroyed," Thunderhead announced. There was a hint of disdain in his voice that I didn't like but he was probably just doing his job. I'd be mad in his position too.

"This is your Captain. Can you hear my voice?" Bartlett asked.

We all responded with a resounding, 'Yes sir!'

"Good, looks like we can all hear each other. All right, nice work, nuggets. Wardog four, you still following us? Well to commemorate the fact that we all made it out of that battle alive, I'm gonna let you keep your nickname. From now on, I'm gonna call you 'Kid' no matter what. Got it? Good." I was still pumped up on adrenalin from the battle and wondering what was going to happen now. The Captains insistence on calling me 'Kid' was not at the forefront of my thoughts at that moment. Chopper mumbled something as we flew back to base. But his grunt of dissatisfaction was nothing compared to the Captains when he read the in-flight update to report to Base HQ immediately.


	4. -Something to Say-

**Something to Say**

The aftermath of the battle was minimal. Kei took it much better than before and Chopper relentlessly teased me it was because I had been with her. Well, I partially believed he was teasing me. Another part of me wanted his comments to be true. Bartlett had been scolded when we had landed for not obeying commands, but everyone but top brass thought he made the right decision, per usual. After his meeting with the big wigs, he came and talked to me personally.

"Kid, what I saw up there…" he looked directly into my eyes before speaking again, "that was leadership; looking out for team-mates while keeping cool and in control."

"Sir, I was doing my duty, just as Chopper and Nagase were doing theirs," I responded. To my knowledge, I hadn't done anything noteworthy and had performed the duties expected of any officer in the OADF. The Captain closed his eyes, patted my back and chuckled a little.

"Kid, the difference between you and the other second Lieutenants is that they don't command the sky like you do." When he saw my confused face, he continued, "Sure, they are great pilots, hell, Nagase has high marks on combat readiness like you, but they don't own the sky like you do, at least not yet. When you're flying, you know where to be and where others should be, and they see that. That's why Chopper was so willing to follow you. It's why Nagase wasn't a ghost when we landed afterwards. The enemy sees that as well and it scares them, don't believe me look at that guy who ejected prematurely. You got the stuff to lead this squadron. I just hope I don't have to die to see that happen." The Captains words were the greatest complements I had received in a long time.

Three days later, I walked into the mess hall and once I got my food, I was beckoned to a table by Chopper. Kei and a two other pilots who hadn't been deployed on the 20th were sitting with him too. The two pilots who weren't with us on deployment earlier asked a lot of questions about the engagement. I tried hard to minimize my role in the fight but Chopper had obviously made me a hero already. The funny part about the whole thing was how quiet Kei was. She would eat a couple of bites of food and occasionally nod her head in agreement but she wouldn't say anything. I tried to eat my meal while Chopper and the other two talked, but they kept interrupting my meal with demands of exaggerated war stories of one engagement. Once I had managed to eat about half of my oatmeal, it became too cold for me to continue eating and I excused myself from the table. Kei followed suit, almost too quickly. I was on my way to my room with a half full stomach when Kei called out from behind me.

"Hey, Blaze. Got a minute?" I turned around to see her about six paces behind me with a hopeful expression fixed on her face.

"Sure. What's up?" Her face relaxed a little at my response but not completely. She looked around the desolate hallways as if there were people who would be listening to our exchange. She closed the distance between us until we were maybe half a step apart. I could smell lavender as she got closer and I began to fight my urge to stoop down and inhale her scent.

"I want to talk about something," she said looking up into my eyes, quickly pulling them away and scanning the halls again while continuing, "but not here. Meet me at the spot you found me." I was about to ask her why she was being so cryptic and secretive, but she quickly turned around and was disappearing down one of the hallways she had been scanning. What was up with her? I regained control of my motor skills and headed off to a shower before we meet up. I changed into my ABU's and headed outside to the place Kei had gone to when Chopper had caused her distress. She wasn't there yet so I sat down in the sand to wait for her. The sand was starting to warm up from the early rays of the morning sun. The soft calls of the birds that circled the island were soothing and calming. Within a couple of minutes of lying in the warm sand with my eyes closed, I fell asleep.

**.oOo.**

I was back in North Point, back at home, waiting for my dad to video call me on the computer. I had just finished watching a news cast on the television about how the pilot Mobius One had protected two civilian airliners from waves of enemies all by himself. I was excited to ask my father if he knew anything about the engagement, he always seemed to know something. The computer began making the incoming call tone. I quickly accepted the call and after a second of buffering, a video of my father came up.

"Hey Dad," I called out to him, waving my hand. My mom came into the room quickly behind me.

"Hello Andrew," my mom called out with a muffled choke of emotion in her voice. I knew they loved each other. A lot. The video feed was grainy and had a low frame rate, but I could still make out that my dad was similarly choked up with emotion.

"Hello Liz," my dad said to my mom. He never called her anything different. He turned to me and said, "Hey bud." He smiled broadly at me and it was infectious causing all three of us to sport wide grins. "I see the house still hasn't burned down, so that's good." I broke out in laughter and my mother even made a muffled giggle.

"He may not have burned the house down, but the cookies he tried baking were pretty black." I had tried to make some cookies as an elaborate plot on asking out a girl to a dance last week but had forgotten about them when they were in the oven. Once the burning smell had reached me, they were long past saving. I tried to hide the incident from my mom, but as soon as she walked in the door, the smell of burnt goods gave away any efforts I had made that far. I then was told about the dangers of cooking unsupervised. A little redundant at the age of 18 but she thought it necessary.

"Who were the cookies for?" my dad asked slyly, ignoring the 'danger' of the incident much to my mother's irritation.

"No one in particular," I sighed out, turning a couple of shades away from a tomato. My dad just smiled knowingly. He saw through everything. "Did you hear about what Mobius One did with the two airliners? He fought off like, eleven planes all by himself!" My dad smiled a bit and rolled his eyes. It was his typical reaction when I brought up the ace pilot.

"Fighting alone probably wasn't a choice he made. I bet he would enjoy some company every once in a while."

"Why?" I asked. I didn't see why an expert pilot like Mobius One would want anyone flying around with him.

"Because flying is an emotional experience just as much as it is a physical one, having a wing mate to share it with can be very rewarding, sometimes more so than when you're by yourself." Seeing the lack of understanding on my face, he continued. "A high kill score isn't what matters, son. What matters is protecting what is important, getting back after a deployment, being able to love the ones who matter most to you. I'll bet that Mobius One is fighting for all of that. He probably wouldn't mind if someone came along and helped him with those goals at the expense of a couple of kills lost." I thought about what my dad said. He was so... there was a word for what he was. Wise. I found myself always seeing the logic in his views and adopting them into my own.

After my dad allowed me some time to think about the words of wisdom he had dropped on me, he started again. "Now, about this girl," he started. I immediately dropped my pensive thinking and put up my barriers.

"What girl?" I asked quickly trying to deceive him again. "No one said anything about a girl."

My mom got up knowingly from her seat and left the room and for a moment I wished she would've stayed, but that wouldn't have stopped my dad and would've made it that much more awkward.

"Dad, we don't have to do this," I started but he held up his hand in insistence.

"Son, what I was saying about flying, well that can be applied to other things too. Some experiences are deeply emotional and shouldn't be shared with just anyone." My face was filling with hot blood and the keyboard was becoming a very interesting object of study. "Hey, this important. Look here." I looked back up at the monitor. "Again, a high 'kill score' isn't what matters when it comes to women." Wow. My dad could go from so wise to so... weird so fast. "I'm not going to tell you what to do; only what you should. There's a difference. Wait and find someone to become your 'wing mate,' that person you can share those experiences with. It makes the reasons for living so much clearer." Despite my father's use of metaphors, the meaning was clear to me, and again, wise. Though, I'd never admit that to him upfront.

"I got it, dad." I said, desperately trying to change the subject.

"So what were you saying about Mobius One protecting those two Air Ixiom flights?" My dad asked. I was confused for a moment.

"How do you know they were Air Ixiom flights?" I asked.

"Oh, um, isn't that what usually flies through that area?" he said brokenly.

"I guess..."

**.oOo.**

I suddenly felt a wet sensation on my face and sputtered, the whole dream going black. I flung open my eye lids only for my eyeballs to become assaulted with water being poured form a blurry figure above me. I bolted upright and blinked rapidly, shaking my head to fling water away from it. I heard someone laughing behind me and after a couple moments of blowing my nose and rubbing my eyes, recognized it as Kei.

"Wow that was really cool, Nagase. Really mature," I said with disdain.

"I couldn't help it. You were mumbling and I thought it was because you were thirsty. Just trying to help a friend out," she said with a playful smile. I began to wonder if she heard me say anything from my dream. Before I could dwell on the matter much longer she spoke again. "What was that one about?"

"The dream?" I asked dumbly. "Oh, I forgot. Dreams. Silly how they are supposed to be this therapeutic thing and we forget them all the time." I really hadn't forgotten about the dream, I just didn't think it would be appropriate to tell Kei about my dad's speech about 'kill scores.'

"Too bad. About your dream." We sat at the spot for a while, looking at each other, at the water coming on to shore, the sand around us, the sky, each other. I finally spoke up after a couple of cycles of that.

"So, you wanted to talk in private?" I asked.

"Um, yeah, but now that I think about it, I kind of just want to sit here. It feels real nice out." She smiled at me again. "Almost like I could take a nap." I threw some sand at her and she made a face of mock anger. She threw some sand at me, but I got up and ran towards the water. She quickly made a pursuit attempt after me. I looked at the water lapping the shore and wondered how warm it was. I made a run straight for the ocean, splashing into the warm coastal waters, the water so warm it was like a bath. I spun around to see if my pursuer was still behind me but she stopped about three yards from where I was ankle deep in water. "You're going to get those clothes wet." she said.

"You don't say? Well thank you Captain Obvious." I started walking deeper into the water, not worried about the condition of my clothing, the water was warm and I was going to enjoy it. I was up to my knees when I heard Kei yell from the shore, about ten yards away now.

"Hey," I turned around to face her. "If I'm a Captain, and you're only a 2nd Lieutenant, that means I get to order you around. I order you to get back here and take what's coming to you like a man," she said pointing at her feet as if I were some dog to be ordered around. I just shook my head defiantly. With that, she charged into the water after me, clearly not as worried as she had appeared to be about the dryness of her apparel. I quickly turned around and trudged through the deepening water, hearing the splashes of Kei getting closer and closer. I was about at my waist when I turned around again to face her. She was only four yards out and had a determined look on her face. I took a wrestlers stance and faced her and she continued to come unabated. Once she was at a couple of feet, I splashed her with a sweep of the hand. Even though the water was warm she made a surprised shriek. When she recovered she faced me again, her hair sticking to her face which had a grin on it that made her look like an evil mermaid. "You're in for it now," she taunted.

"Bring-" She launched herself at me with an amount of force I didn't expect her to have in the water. I lost my footing and was under the salty waves in an instant. I came back up for air quickly but as I sucked in air, I got a fair amount of water that was splashed by Kei. I shook my head again and blinked rapidly to get the irritating salt out of my eyes. That was when I was blind-sided again on the left and fell back into the water. I reacted a little faster this time and didn't have my eyes open when I hit the water. I stayed submerged and breast stroked away while under the waves. When I came up again, I saw Kei looking in the opposite direction for me about 5 yards away. So she had some of the salt in her eyes as well.

"Truce?" I called out, causing her to spin around and face me.

"You done splashing me?" she asked.

"You splashed me first!" I called out defensively. She was about to retort before she thought for a second.

"Oh yeah," she said plainly as she began walking back to shore. I turned around to go in the same direction. The air was slightly cooler now that I was wet but it wasn't anything unpleasant. We walked in unison to the building and as soon as we entered, we were greeted with strange looks before Chopper walked into us.

"There you guys are. The Base Commander is all up in arms about..." Chopper took a good look at both of us, dripping wet and sandy. "Well, well, well, what's been going on between you two?" I didn't know about Kei but my face became so hot that I wouldn't have been surprised if the water just evaporated off right then and there.

"Nothing," I quickly put out. "What's up with the Base Commander? What does he want now?" I asked trying to get Chopper to continue.

"Um, right. So the Base Commander wants us to get up in the air and shoot down some UAVs returning to a boat that is within our area of operations. I would recommend drying off before you get into your planes though," Chopper said as he walked off casually. Once he rounded a corner I sighed.

"See you up in the air," Kei said before rushing off towards her room.

"Not if I get there first," I shouted after her as I ran to do the same. It was inevitable she would beat me, I was fourth position and she was second, but it still made me move at speeds that I wouldn't normally go at. I managed to get to my hangar and start my plane before she could, but as expected, she taxied first. Once we were up in the air, we all formed up on Bartlett.

"Kid, we need to shoot down those UAVs before they exit the operations area." Then he added unexpectedly, "Who knows what kind of photos they took." It was very quiet for a couple of moments before I could hear Chopper's muffled chuckles.

"Wardog, this is Thunderhead. Unmanned recon drones returning to spy vessel. Shoot them down before they get back to the ship." I found myself thanking Thunderhead for once as I shot forward out of formation towards the first pair of drones. We were still using the F-5's. There was no reason for us to have anything else because we were still officially at peace, though I wished they would change out these stupid, dead-weight bombs. Upon seeing me going at the drones aggressively, Bartlett decided to elaborate on mission parameters.

"Our orders are to not fire on the ship. Understood?"

"Got it," I said curtly, focusing on the two enlarging dots on the horizon.

"Good. Aim only for the recon planes. Show me what you've got kid!" The reconnaissance planes were small, probably so they could be launched and retrieved by the boat. Firing missiles on them would be plenty easy, but doing that just seemed to be a waste of resources. And skill. I got in close on the first two drones. About 150 yards out, I slowed down just enough to keep them at a constant range and fired my cannon. About ten rounds later, the two drones were nothing but scraps of falling composite. There were three more pairs to go.

"How you doing, kid? Pretty easy, huh?" I nodded at first before realizing I was in a position that the Captain couldn't see such a response.

"Yeah," I said as I proceeded to the next two drones. Chopper suddenly flashed past my canopy.

"Guess this is a good time to have a little competition of kill scores," he suggested. Well if that was what he wanted... I put my plane into a fast chase behind chopper, making sure not to burn excessive amounts of fuel with the after-burners. We were approaching another pair of drones that were at 300 yards and closing fast. I pulled a large loop to bleed some speed and when I leveled out again lined up for a gun shot. Chopper, forgetting his large amount of momentum, overshot the targets before he could get a good fix on them. Capitalizing on his mistake, I took both drones down and dived to get some speed without too much extra work from the engines. As we raced towards the third pair of drones, Chopper spoke up again.

"I'm glad there aren't any live people in these things, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I hate having to kill up here," I said pensively, thinking about how I had already doomed some people from returning home to possible families. I forced myself to stop thinking of my victims that way. Once you started down that path, it was easy to get stuck on it.

"So we can just shoot 'em down and not worry about it," Chopper continued, obviously not picking up on my deep thoughts. We came up on the next group of UAVs but instead of slowing down or even aiming for any of them, I let Chopper take them while I continued ahead to the last pair and shot them down with a couple of rounds from my canon. We began to all form up and head back to the island when Thunderhead came back over the radio.

"Warning! Multiple bogeys inbound, closing fast." Bartlett wasted no time in asking a question.

"Same attack axis as before?" We all knew the answer and were not surprised to hear Thunderhead confirm.

"280. Same vector as last time."

"How many planes they got lined up at the border? We've only got four on our side..." Bartlett mumbled. "We better abort. This way." Bartlett's F-4G made a slight correction to the right and we followed diligently. Except for Chopper. For some reason or another, his plane just couldn't keep up with us.

"I can't make it. They're running me down!" he finally yelled out. I broke formation and started tracking his six. Bartlett said something about Chopper and me switching spots but I was too busy addressing the real threat of MiG's on our tails. It seemed to be a force comprised of 21's and 29's. The 21's I could dance circles around for days, but the 29's had me a little concerned. They were supposed to be on par with F-15s and with two of them supplemented by four 21's, it wasn't looking so hot. We split into our elements again. Chopper and I attracted the slower 21's while the two 29's went after the Captain and Kei.

"Chopper, you aren't going to like it, but I have an idea," I told my partner.

"Kid, anything sounds better than what's going on right now."

"I'm going to use you as bait."

"Except that. Seriously, that's all you've got?"

"Relax, this will all work out, trust me." With that, I pulled up to a height and angle that would hide me in the sun from the three Fishbed's that were closing in on our position.

"This isn't about earlier is it? I didn't mean to insinuate anything." I didn't say anything and left him to think about that one. When the enemies were in the opportune spot, I locked my two sidewinders onto two of the three planes and fired. Without taking any time to see if the shots would make it, I dove on the third craft that I hadn't fired a missile on. I opened cannon fire on his plane and when it was out of action, I checked my radar. Only 3 enemies remained and they were all in Bartlett's and Kei's arena. "How are you doing, Chopper?" I asked.

"Kid, you're really cramping my style. Three planes in less than thirty seconds. That's got to be a record or something. Let's see what we can do to help out the others." I stuck with Choppers damaged plane. It was clearly putting out black smoke from its right engine. It eventually got so bad that Chopper shut it down to avoid a flame out and tried to remove himself from the fight with me as his escort. I felt pretty useless just watching Kei and Bartlett duke it out with the two Fulcrums' and the last Fishbed, but my duty was with Chopper now. It seemed like the two were taking turns at being the bait. Bartlett was able to get a shot off on one of the 29's and Kei was able to snag his wingman right after. The last plane tried bugging out but Bartlett made sure that didn't happen.

Thunderhead came in over the radio again, telling us that all the enemy fighters had been shot down but there was still a warning in effect. No sooner had he finished his statement when a streak of white shot up from the boat we weren't allowed to fire on, making its way towards Kei's plane.

"Watch out Nagase! They're down below us too!" Bartlett yelled out. Kei began to cut around the sky, making crazy turns and rolls but the missile was gaining and not losing track. Then, in a move that none of us could've predicted, the captain pulled in between the missile and Kei's plane, causing the missile to lock on to him instead. Once he was clear of Kei's plane, the missile exploded. While it was close enough to do damage, the Captains plane was still in the air.

"Captain!" Kei exclaimed frightfully.

"Save the waterworks." The Bartlett replied stoically. "I'm just gonna bail out here. We can replace these things. It's getting the crew back alive that counts. Make a call to scramble the search and rescue chopper and my reserve plane, okay?" The Captains words briefly reminded me of something my father would say, and I found myself incorporating it like I would if it was really him. The Captain ejected without incident and we began to form up in a holding pattern to wait for the rescue helicopter when Thunderhead came back over the radio.

"Warning! Warning! Wardog Squadron, return to base immediately!" Kei began to protest the orders, the most she had spoken during this mission so far.

"But the rescue helicopter isn't here yet."

"Leave that to the rescue team." Thunderhead shot back. "Refuel and rearm at the base, and get back in the air immediately! The enemy has declared war on us!" Everyone was silent for a moment, the shock hitting us all.

"We need to get back to base," I said breaking the silence. "Thunderhead is right, the rescue team can do more for the Captain right now."

"Copy that Blaze," Kei said reluctantly.

"Yeah, copy that, kid," Chopper responded. We all landed without incident and had a quick discussion about Choppers plane with the maintenance crew. It was decided he would fly Bartlett's for this mission while his was fixed up. After mine and Kei's planes were refueled and rearmed, we were back up in the air heading for Port St. Hewlett. It was a longer flight, and it was lengthened by our lack of talking. I guessed it was because we were all still in shock about having the captain shot down or that the long break in bloody war had finally ended. We were about 14 miles outside the operations area when Thunderhead came in over the radio with the mission briefing.

"Our naval base at St. Hewlett reports that Yuktobanian aircraft have launched a surprise attack on the port. The situation there is critical with widespread panic. Ships from the Third Osean Naval Fleet docked at the port are currently under attack and taking heavy losses. Hurry to Port St. Hewlett and provide air cover for our naval vessels attempting to escape the bay. Among these ships is the aircraft carrier Kestrel. It is the flagship of the Third Naval Fleet and a critical combat asset. You must protect the Kestrel at all costs." Once there was a break in the information, a question came up in my mind. With the captain gone, who was going to lead us? As if he could read minds, Thunderhead spoke up. "Thunderhead to Wardog. Edge, you lead the formation." Well that made sense. She was number two, so now we would all temporarily move up a position.

"Negative." What? Kei began to speak again. "You take the lead, Blaze. I'll fly on your wing." Kei pulled out of the leading position she had been in and fell off to my left side.

"Second Lieutenant Nagase, Follow your orders," Thunderhead demanded. I felt like I was in the middle of a standoff between two gunslingers.

"No, Blaze is leading. I'll protect his six. And I'm not going to lose another flight lead." Her plane seemed to inch closer to me after her statement. We were almost in the operation area when an F-14 flashed by us, the large plane making ours look like children's playthings.

"Quit screwing around. This is war! The enemy's all over and they're gonna eat you alive!" What I could only assume as the pilot of the craft radioed us the chilling words, already making me not enjoy his company. Then the unusually quiet Chopper spoke up at last.

"Aaah... I'd better stick to the trail position, thanks." His remark put a slight grin on my face, reminding me why I liked having Chopper in our flight. We were within operations now and I quickly spotted the Kestrel. Apparently, so had the enemy. Tracers mixed with fire and smoke, making the whole bay look like something out of a war movie. Well, that was what this was. War. Dirty, bloody, evil war.

"Wardog, this is Blaze, split up and engage the targets. Don't let any plane get within firing range of the Kestrel. Protect the other ships if you can, but our priority is the carrier. Careful where you shoot down enemy planes too, the harbor isn't fully evacuated yet. Down them in the water if you can."

"Roger Blaze," Kei sounded off followed promptly by Chopper. I focused on threats that were already around the Kestrel while Chopper focused on planes coming in from across the bay. Kei stuck close to me but stayed useful by engaging some craft that made it past Chopper. The enemy aircraft were mostly A-6 Intruder's mixed with a couple of F-5s of their own. I relied on my cannons, always weary of using my precious sidewinders. The radio chatter was dismal. The nearby hospital was being flooded with casualties, ships that weren't being as heavily guarded as the Kestrel were getting hit, and the enemy's broadcasts were getting picked up occasionally, making our efforts feel inadequate. I was down to a quarter of my cannon ammo when the Kestrel announced it had gotten out into open water along with some other surviving vessels. That was when we looked down and regretted it. There were so many bodies in the water. Why were there so many? Burning oil covered some of them and made the sight even more horrific. I steeled myself and flew to a position above the Kestrel, waiting for the remaining vessels and my flight to form up.

There were enemy frigates coming in and a battle ship on the horizon. I suddenly became appreciative of our bombs.

"Edge, keep air cover over the Kestrel, me and Chopper will advance on the enemy ships and take them out with our bombs."

"But Blaze..." she began. Before she could throw anymore words out there, I spoke again.

"Don't worry. I'll call for you if I need help, but right now, we need to think about the Kestrel."

"Right," was all that Kei said as Chopper and I began hunting the enemy ships. We each had six 500lb bombs to place on the enemy, but they were free fall bombs without any guidance and to be accurate, we had to get in close. And when you get in close to an enemy frigate, you tend to end up with a lot of holes in your plane. As I came up on my first target, I saw some Nimrod's flying support for the large ships, closing in on the Kestrel.

"Edge, heads up. I just spotted an enemy Nimrod flying your way."

"Chopper to Edge, yeah, I just saw the same thing. Try to get some of the ships with the Kestrel to fire on those things before they're too close."

"Thanks guys, I'll be on the lookout." I started my approach on the first frigate. The piper came up on the HUD and once I was within acceptable limits, I released. I shot over the ship while it continued firing at me, bullets whizzing past my canopy. Suddenly, they stopped and I looked back at the ship to find out why. The bomb made a direct hit on the ship's hull right next to the water line. It was starting to list to the side and would soon be a heap of twisted metal on the sea floor. I began to scan for another target. Once I found another ship to prey upon, I adjusted course to it. The cycle repeated 2 more times. Chopper updated that he had destroyed three targets as well.

"Edge to Blaze and Chopper. I need help with this last Nimrod. I'm Winchester and all I can do is play chicken with it."

"Blaze acknowledges. Chopper, go see if you can help her out, I'll deal with the battleship."

"Chopper, roger. Don't worry princess, I'm on my way." I rolled my eyes and continued on my way to the final naval target. This ship was a beast. I had three bombs left and I wasn't sure that would be enough. Once I came into range, the sky lit up with tracer rounds. I danced around the sky like a mad man and eventually pulled out of range to recover for a real attack. I gained altitude to attempt a dive bomb run. I positioned myself as best I could into the sun to delay any anti-aircraft fire that would come my way and began a steep 80 degree dive. At 1000 feet, I released two of my bombs and quickly leveled out, pulling some massive G forces as I came out of the dive. Once I was out of the sun, Tracers consumed the sky around me and the inevitable happened. The wrenching sound of metal being torn by other metal filled my ears and I began dipping and diving and spinning all over the place.

The cannon fire eventually stopped and I looked back to see the battleship heavily damaged, the bridge in pieces and most of the AA guns silenced. I took inventory of my own vessel and became saddened by the sights that meet my eyes. There was significant damage to the main right wing and the whole tip of the left, including the sidewinder that had once been attached there, was missing. The aircraft was still responsive, but just barely.

"This is Blaze. I've sustained heavy damage but I'm still airworthy. For now. The battleship has taken heavy damage but is still afloat. I think I can get it though. Turning to engage."

"Whoa there now, this is Chopper. Kid, don't go in there alone, I'm coming to help you out."

"No, you stay here Chopper. Blaze, this is Edge. All they need is something else to shoot at. Chopper has the ammo to protect the Kestrel. I'll be a decoy while you finish your bomb run."

"Copy that Edge, but make it snappy. I don't know how much longer I can keep this plane up." I began to put my plane into a wide circle, being careful not to over stress the frame. Edge came and flew to my four-o-clock and did an inspection of her own.

"Blaze, your plane shouldn't be flying right now, this is too dangerous. Let the other ships finish it off. It's damaged enough that it doesn't pose too big of a threat." I could tell she was very worried but was trying to appeal to logic. However, I was following a different logic.

"If that ship gets even one shot off and hits any of ours, we could lose people. I'm not losing any more people today. We go forward with the distraction plan." There was a pause of silence that went longer than I wished it would've but eventually, Kei came back across the radio and agreed to the plan. She shot ahead of my wounded plane, diving aggressively at the ship to get its attention. The remaining AA guns trained on her plane and began firing. I focused on the broadside of the ship, right at the waterline. When the piper on the HUD was in the zone, I released my payload and, as sharply as the plane would allow, pulled out of the line of attack. The hit was good and the side of the ship pealed open, water filling it and causing it to start to fall onto its side. I began to return to a patrol around the Kestrel and Kei joined up with me.

"This is the captain of the aircraft carrier Kestrel. Our fleet has successfully escaped to safe waters. My thanks to our brave warriors of the sea... and the air." The Captains kind words put a faint smile on my face, only for Thunderhead to wipe it off.

"Wardog, a replacement flight is coming to relive you of duty. Once they are on station, you are cleared to RTB."

"Like, five minutes earlier. Five minutes. Send them five minutes earlier next time, okay Thunderhead?" Chopper told the man. I had to agree with Chopper. Why did they wait till the area had been sanitized by us to send in replacement craft? "So, Kid, does it feel good to be the flight lead?" I contemplated about the question for a moment. It had felt natural and hardly any different from what I had been doing before. Maybe that was because the people I flew with just knew what needed doing and did it.

"Yeah, I liked it. You guys made it plenty easy for me, though."

"I see. Good. I'm glad to hear it." Chopper said smugly, appreciating my complement to a great extent.

"Blaze, you risked yourself needlessly," Kei scolded. I knew this had been coming but I had prepared an explanation for my actions.

"Saving lives doesn't seem a needless cause, Nagase," I told her. "If I die saving people, then it is worth it in my book." She remained quiet for a moment. I knew she wanted to say something else but she never did.

The replacement planes came in and we began a brief flight to a nearby airfield. My plane needed some repairs before we could begin the long task of heading back home.

"One, two, three..." Chopper began counting. "One, two, three planes. Count 'em up, man, we're all back safe. I can't wait to tell the Captain once they pluck him out of the ocean." We came up on the airfield next to St. Hewlett and began landing. I was first due to my damaged plane but I still pulled off a 'perfect' landing. My two wing mates landed not long after that. We stayed at the base for a couple of hours while the mechanics completely replaced both wings of the aircraft and patched up the dozens of holes in the fuselage. Amazingly, none of the hydraulic or fuel lines had been hit. If they had, landing might have proven fatal to me. We were on our way back to Sand Island by 1600.


	5. -The Big Non-Important Things-

**The Big Non-Important Things**

Once we were back on base, we all looked around for Captain Bartlett to tell him about what had transpired without him. But instead of finding the good-natured man, we ran into the Base Commander who had some 'questions' for us about our Capitan. We were all separated and put into different rooms. Then we were all questioned about if we knew of anything suspicious about the Captains behavior. I was asked a whole slew of questions about my previous citizenship in North Point, but they had nothing on me and they knew I knew it. We were all eventually released and we went to the mess to discuss what had happened. As I sat down and took a sip of the grape juice that I had been provided, Chopper began talking.

"Can you believe those guys? The way they were talking makes me think they wanted to pin something like this on the Captain for years. Hey, kid, why did they take so long with you?" I swallowed the rest of the saucy pasta in my mouth before I answered his question.

"They brought up my previous citizenship in North Point, asking if I had sympathized with the Captain. I told them I sympathized with the captain about a lot of things, and that my previous citizenship had nothing to do with it. It made them question me for another 30 minutes but it got under their skin so it was worth it." Chopper nodded with squinted eyes, like he was giving me some major street cred. Kei just put a faint smile and looked up at the ceiling in mock disbelief.

"That was a ballsy move man. I just decided something. I like you man. You can be my flight lead any day. Well, except the days that bucket head Ford is leading us. Which starts tomorrow. So... hum. Yeah, I guess you got cheated out of that one." Kei returned her focus back to playing with her food. She seemed to be out of it since we got back and wasn't talking all too much so when she began speaking again, Chopper and I listened up.

"I don't like this Lieutenant Colonel Ford. I had a run in with him back in November City. He thinks of command like a dictator position. No room for independent action or thought. And, when I shot him down in training, I think it didn't help things at all." She finished with a faint smile on her face as she looked up from the meatball she had been pushing around. I smiled as well. The fact that Kei had shot down the man who would be leading us from now on seemed ironic to me. "I agree with Chopper. Based off of what happened today, I would take Blaze leading us any day over that slug of a man." Chopper began one of his deep laughs.

"Whoa, ho, ho! Look at Nagase, pulling out the big guns." He backed away from her in mock fear of being harmed by a suddenly emboldened Kei. Playing along, she hit him in the arm and he babied it like it had been impacted with super human strength. Once we all settled down, we finished up eating, or in Kei's situation, pretending to eat, and headed out for the night. Chopper went to go chat with his new roommate, Genette, something about an interview making him look like a high caliber pilot, I went to my room to go to bed early and Kei went to go do the same, or so I assumed. The day had been filled with so much action that I felt completely drained. I striped away most of my clothing in a futile attempt to cool down. The bases AC was undergoing maintenance and it was unbearably hot and sticky everywhere. I was just beginning to close my eyes when there was a knock on my door. Grunting, I got up and threw on a sleeveless tee to complement my boxers.

I pulled the door wide open in an aggravated manner, expecting a NCO to be standing at it with some news that could've waited until the morning. Instead, I found Kei who suddenly seemed very bashful.

"Um, Blaze, I..." despite her desperate attempt to shift her focus away, her eyes kept gravitating towards me. I quickly narrowed the door to a slit where only my head could be seen. Now it was my turn to stumble on words.

"Sorry. Sorry about that. That was... not the usual way I greet people. Um... can you give me a moment to get... decent?" I raised an eye brow at the end of my question, causing Kei's face to flash one of her trademark smiles in the midst of its redness. "Right. Be one second." I quickly shut the door and silently slapped myself on the forehead. After six or seven slaps, I opened my eyes again and found some pants strewn on the floor. I threw them on and did a quick pick up of other lingering objects. After no more than 12 seconds of preparation, the room was ready for visitation, more or less. I returned to the door and much more elegantly opened it up.

"Why, Ms. Nagase. What are you doing here at this fine hour?" Kei stood there for a moment, only the large grin on her face saying anything meaningful. After a moment, however, she regained a more sober attitude and asked a question with seriousness in her voice.

"Can I come in, Blaze?" I straightened up as well, catching her change in mood.

"Yeah, sure." I held my hand into my room, gesturing for her to enter. Once she was past the threshold, I closed the door and walked to my bed where I sat. Kei took the couch on the other side of the room by the window. "What's this about?" I asked.

"Today, you almost died. And despite what you said, it seemed needless. To me at least." I started to respond but was cut off by her almost as soon as I took in a breath. "Blaze, whether you think it or not, you're more valuable than a couple of sailors. Think about it. Already, you've shot down enough planes to be at least a double ace, if not a triple. And you did all that with one of the lowest spec airplanes in service. You have leadership skills that are on par with anyone who has been in for ten years or more and..." She trailed off, looking out the window of my room towards the evening sky. The sun was just starting to set and the red colors being produced were a thing of true beauty. "The point is," she started again, not finishing her previous list, "I'm sticking closer to you from now on. And don't try anything stupid. Or I will force you to eject form that plane before you can do it." Despite the joking nature of the threat, her face was somber, making me think hard about the position I had put her in today.

"I'm sorry Nagase. I've never had to think about how the loss of... me, could cause such problems for people." She looked at me and then back out the window and then at the ground. There was something she wanted to say but wasn't. "I was so willing to die for others that I didn't really think about how I could live for them." She looked back up at me with eyes that desperately needed to say something.

"Blaze-" Suddenly, there was an emergency scramble siren. Kei drew in a sudden surprised breath and I stood up, ready for action. Kei quickly followed suit and we both began running towards the hangars. Whatever Kei had been waiting to say would have to wait a little bit longer. The emergency scramble alarm was going off and we had to get into the air as quickly as possible. On our way through the halls, Chopper joined up with us.

"What's going on kid?" he asked franticly trying to keep pace with us.

"Your guess is as good as mine!" I shouted back.

"Well thank goodness those mechanics fixed up my baby. Time to shoot up some Yukes!" We reached the hangars out of breath and we didn't have time to catch it. We hopped into some flight suits and even as we were getting into our planes the ground crews were starting to pull them onto the runway. The other nuggets that had scrambled before us were already starting to be decimated. The mechanics had apparently slacked off on Choppers plane again, it wasn't starting up and Kei and I were stuck behind him. Finally, after some divine intervention, Choppers plane came to life and he quickly took off, clearing the way for Kei. As soon as she was in the air, I began the procedure.

"Kid, watch out! They are targeting you on the runway!" I pushed my throttle to the max, forgetting the effects of fuel guzzling after-burning. The effects of the G forces it produced were a little harder to ignore. I saw some tracers fly by the canopy, fragmenting the tarmac next to the craft. After a white-knuckle 6 seconds, my plane was climbing at its top rate. I retracted my landing gear, pulled off the throttle a bit and found my first target. There were three B-1B Lancers' in the area escorted by F-16's and some Panavia Tornado's.

"Wardog, priority target is the bombers. Only engage the escorts if necessary. If we take out the bombers, the escort craft will bug out."

"Copy that Blaze," my two wing mates responded. Pops suddenly came over the radio. He and I got along really well but it still surprised me that he was broadcasting during the air battle.

"I see you managed to make it up. Is your plane all right?" Typical Pop's. First question was about the plane.

"Pop's, this is Blaze. My plane is fine, thanks to your magic fingers," I added with a bit of humor.

"Glad to hear it. Looks like keeping it in good shape has paid off." Wow. That was a good underhanded comeback. Before I could retort again, Lieutenant Colonel Ford's voice came in over the radio.

"This is Wardog Leader, Lieutenant Colonel Ford. Approaching Sand Island. What's your current status?" Chopper's private Channel suddenly came in.

"Here comes His Highness from the mainland now." The control tower came in to inform Ford of the current situation.

"This is Base Control. We are under air attack. Repeat, we are under air attack!" Ford then directed a question to me.

"I trust you can hold the runway until we arrive?" There was a subtle tone of desperation that reminded me that despite this man's reputation, he was worth saving. Maybe just not with my life.

"We will try with our utmost diligence to sanitize the airspace before you land, sir." I responded.

"Right. Protect it at all costs."

"Alright, Wardog," I began. "There are three bombers and three of us. Let's put those planes out of action before we take too much damage." As Chopper and Kei acknowledged their understanding, we broke off and each targeted a different bomber. I was again mad that I was lugging around a ton and a half of useless ordinance but I told myself it was making me a better pilot. As I approached the bomber, I did a quick assessment of its weak points. The B-1B was a swing-wing aircraft so if I could even just hit one of its major hydraulic lines, it would go down without an argument. I pulled up about 200 feet above the target plane and to its left, still about 700 yards out. As I rushed up to meet the plane, I applied air-brakes and pointed the nose towards the vulnerable area between the wing and the body of the craft. A few rounds later and the wing violently swung back against the fuselage with such gusto that the plane entered a dead man's roll followed up by a dive so steep and severe that the plane broke in half with the strain on its airframe. Unexpected, but effective.

I began to pull away from the wreck when I got spiked by one of the escort planes.

"Crap," I muttered under my breath as I pulled up and hit the throttle to get out of the position I was in. The warning went away and I decided to teach the enemy who had spiked me a lesson. I completed a loop in as tight a radius I could and searched for the enemy fighter and found a lone F-16 turning and heading off towards Kei who was dismantling one of the bombers. "Screw these damn bombs!" I yelled as I toggled the jettison switch for the ordinance meant for ground engagements. With the bombs splashing harmlessly into the ocean, my plane lurched forward with new-found acceleration. I pulled in behind the Falcon and once they noticed me, they began bucking across the dusky sky. I stuck to him though; I wasn't going to let him get to Kei, or anyone for that matter. I kept closing in on him, my two engines struggling to overtake them with their much more powerful one. I finally got a firing solution for my guns and opened up on the middle of his fuselage, casing his engine to flame out and his canopy to burst open with flame. If I had to take on every enemy like this for much longer, I would go crazy.

"Blaze, this is Edge. I've finished up with my bomber," Kei reported in.

"Kid, this is Chopper. Same here, but these enemies don't seem to want to give up."

"Copy that Wardog," I said. "Why don't we form up and give them a reason to leave."

"Roger. This is Edge, forming up on Blaze's eight-o-clock." Kei and Chopper both formed up on me and we began to do a sweep of the area. Chopper would dodge up in front of an enemy performing a strafing run to make them break off and pursue while Kei and I would quickly take turns sanitizing his six. We were in the middle of the routine when Chopper suddenly yelled out in agony. Thinking the worst, I quickly asked for a sit-rep from him.

"My Rock 'n' Roll records! They're in my room! It took me forever to collect all those!" If we weren't in a more dangerous situation, I probably would've shot him down myself right then. I could tell Kei was thinking the same thing when I hear her make a frustrated growl over the radio. Her dangerous animal-like noise was replaced by one of wonder as she looked down at the runway.

"Pops is taking off." I looked down towards the runway as well, never being able to resist a plane taking off. Chopper suddenly called our attention towards the hangars.

"Look at the hangar! Who the hell pulled that out?" I looked towards the source of surprise and saw the Captains spare plane being rolled out once again for combat.

"This is Grimm," an unfamiliar voice announced. "I was in the hangar helping out the mechanics. I'm taking off." The announcement from the pilot was good news to me but apparently Chopper had some protests about the idea.

"The hell you are. You're not even out of replacement pilot training yet. Aren't there any other spare pilots around?" What was Choppers deal? Did he feel threatened by this rookie pilot or something?

"I didn't see any," The young voice said innocently.

"There's no time. Be careful, Grimm. I'll cover you." Kei was so good at silencing Chopper sometimes.

"I'll try," responded the timid pilot.

"Kid, Grimm's coming up. I'm not sure he can handle this... Are we just gonna watch?" Chopper made a good point. That was what he was probably worried about. Grimm might be as fresh as the rest of us, but Chopper still felt a little worried about him.

"Chopper, of course we are going to cover him. Make sure that he and Edge don't get hit. I'll maintain a solid perimeter."

"Roger, let's give him a hand." Chopper flew over towards the island to fly top cover with Kei while I maintained a wide circular perimeter around the island. There were a couple flights of inbound F-16's that were starting to look a little hairy.

"Hey guys," I said, earning my flights attention. "Let's try and hustle this up. We've got some mean looking falcons approaching."

The rest of Grimm's take off was rushed on and he got airborne just as the Falcon's got on site. With four of us dancing with the formation of three, we had the odds in our favor if not just for once. But just as things seemed to be going our way, someone had to ruin our streak.

"This is Wardog Leader." Ford was already starting to get on my nerves. He hadn't done more than ask us to protect him while he approached the island and already he was acting like a king. "Sand Island, I'm out of fuel. Request clearance to land."

"Negative, Lieutenant Colonel Ford, you can't land!" the control tower yelled out in desperation. "We're under attack!" What the Lieutenant Colonel did next made me want to shoot him down myself.

"All friendly aircraft, cover me while I land." Despite my hatred for this man's command style, I began to move towards his position. Chopper just had to complain.

"What are you, insane?!"

"Second Lieutenant Davenport, is that you?" There was a hint of recognition behind the threatening voice and I began to wonder what kind of history was between the two men.

"Yes, Sir," Chopper said solemnly, knowing what was coming.

"I'll make sure to write you up after I la-" As I closed in on the Lieutenant Colonel's position, I saw the blip that had been his plane fade off screen and a large fireball where it's approximated position had been.

"He's trailing fire! The Lieutenant Colonel's gone down!" Chopper yelled out. I couldn't tell if he was happy, surprised, or just in shock. But the plane hadn't gone down for just any reason. A new flight of bombers and escorts were on their way to the island.

"Wardog," I began. "We need to get rid of these bombers so we can finally get some damn sleep!" My anger at being thrown around all day was starting to bleed through. I just wanted to put my aching body in a semi-soft cot where it belonged. I rocketed forward to meet up with the offending bombers and began to target each ones weaknesses. The other three members of Wardog covered my six and pursued any escorts that started bugging out. With the final bomber starting its tumble into the water, I took a breather and relaxed a bit, feeling my muscles loosen and the soreness in my back come to the front of my mind.

"Was my flying all right?" Grimm asked, eager to hear what I had to say about his flying. I was thinking pleasant thoughts of sleeping so my good mood flowed into my response.

"Yes, Grimm. You flew like an ace tonight."

"Thank you," he responded sincerely. "It was because of your support." The Sand Island control tower came on over the radio.

"Come on! Let's get a welcoming party going!"

"Alright," Chopper exclaimed. "I could use some unwinding time! A party sounds perfect!"

"You and me have different definitions of unwinding, Chopper," I said chucking a little as the flight began to line up for landing.

"What's your 'unwinding time', Blaze?" Kei asked.

"Lying down on a warm beach, maybe a little shut-eye… That's what unwinding time is right now. Tomorrow, it'll probably be different, but tonight, I'm relaxing on the beach." It was quiet for a moment before Chopper jumped in again.

"Yea, you take that, Kid. I'll stick with booze and rock and roll." We began our landing sequence. Grimm was first and for being as fresh as he was, his landing was spot on. Chopper landed right after him and then Kei. I lined up the runway and did a lazy landing, too tired to try and impress anyone. Once I was out of my cockpit I jogged over to my room, changed into a pair of swim shorts and a tee, and ran back out heading for the shoreline. The sun had sunk below the horizon and only a blood red patch of sky hinted at its existence. I found a spot only a couple of feet from where the water was rolling up on shore and plopped myself down in the warm sand. As I laid out on its surface, I could feel my back uncompressing, hurting at first but then a pleasant fade into bliss. I was in heaven and when I closed my eyes, I fell into a relaxing rest right there.

I woke up later that night when the water began lapping at my feet. I opened my eyes to a full moon that had caused the water to reach the soles of my feet. I took in a deep breath, making my chest rise up a good inch and a half and causing the sand beneath me to shift. Without getting up, I stretched, not wanting to leave the comfortable position. After a good 2 minutes of stretching, I stood up and began wiping the sand off of my shirt and shorts. The water felt warm on my feet and I was certain that I would have time to sleep in tomorrow so I jumped into the sea. The waves were the only noise as I began wading out deeper into the water. Once I reached a depth that came up to my waist, I laid out on the water, floating on the water's surface.

I reluctantly pulled myself out of the ocean and began walking back to base. It was a warm evening and even though I was dripping wet, I didn't feel cold at all. As I walked back, I surveyed the damage that had been caused by the attack earlier. One of the runways would have to be patched up but other than that and a few ammo dumps that had caught fire, the base was unharmed. Ironically enough, when I walked into the building the freezing cold blast of air told me that the AC had been fixed. I began walking back to my room when I noticed one light on in the mess hall. I quietly walked towards the illumination to find Kei sitting at the window seat with something in her lap again. I studied the object and determined it was a book of some sort and she was writing in it. I realized it might be a diary or journal and peeping in on her and watching her write in it, was probably a little creepy so I left her in peace.

Not to my surprise, I overslept and woke up the next day around 0830. I headed to the mess hall to get some breakfast and saw that the room was mostly empty. I quick grabbed some waffles and syrup along with a glass of orange juice and sat down at the window seat. Outside, people were beginning to fix up the pavement for the runway. It was hard to believe that it had only been 20 hours since Yuktobania declared war on us and Sand Island had already been in every single one of the engagements. I was so engrossed at watching the progress outside that I didn't notice Kei coming towards me until she sat down with me.

"Hey," she said softly, calling my attention from the window to her presence. Her eyes probably looked just as tired as mine.

"Hey," I replied, mimicking her soft tone.

We both looked out the window to see Pops plane comeback from its departure from last night. He had flown out to the mainland with some of the top brass to talk about our squadron's situation. Once he learned that Lt. Col. Ford was shot down, his mission changed to finding a new flight lead of Wardog. I continued to look out the window for what must have been a couple of minutes. I snapped out of my gaze once I remembered I had food and company. When I looked back however, I found my company was staring at me. Kei quickly turned her head down to her bowl and filled her mouth with rice. How long had she been staring at me? I decided to spare her any further embarrassment and eat on like nothing had happened. After a couple of bites of my now cold waffles, I spoke up.

"You look tired," I said. I knew she had been up last night writing in something, but I wanted to see what she would be willing to share.

"Oh, yeah." She looked up from her food for a moment and gave me a goofy grin. "I was doing some late night 'unwinding time'." We both grinned at her subtle joke before she continued with, "Just reflecting on how things have been going." So it was a journal. "I couldn't help but notice you looked a little sleep deprived yourself," she added with a hint of amusement in her voice. Was she going to test me like I was testing her? Had she seen me when I spotted her in here?

"Well," I started. "I did say I planned on laying down a beach." Kei swapped the smile on her face with a mock, satisfied face, but I continued. "I ended up falling asleep in the sand last night, only to be woken up by some rude and obnoxious waves. They weren't rude enough to splash me in the face, but none the less, rude and obnoxious." Kei opened her mouth at the audacity I had just displayed and reached across the table to punch my arm. I didn't even flinch and continued with my recollection of last night. "After the water had finished assaulting me, I decided to teach it a lesson and jumped into it, but after a thorough thrashing, I became so tired I just flopped down into water. After all that I came back in and went off to bed." Kei just sat in her seat with a smile to compliment her droopy but amused eyes.

"That was quite the story," she started, trying to hold back the laughter I could hear behind her voice. "But you left out something." I tried to think what she could mean by that. I hadn't left out anything she could have known about. "You think you're so sneaky that I couldn't hear your wet feet last night?"

I opened my mouth to make talking noises but nothing came out that was useful. She had a raised eyebrow and a sly smile on her face that told me she had hoped for this reaction but definitely didn't expect it. Regaining control of my mouth, I managed to get out a response. "Yes, I did walk past you last night and yes, I did notice you writing in your journal, but as soon as I realized it was private-"

Kei's face lost its smile. "Journal?" It was her turn to put on the thinking face. "Oh. That wasn't a journal." I felt a strange sense of relief that I hadn't intruded on her privacy.

"Oh," I replied stupidly. "What was it then?"

"Just because it isn't a journal doesn't mean it isn't private." Kei said a little defensively. I immediately backed off the subject and shoved another bite of waffle in my mouth before something else insulting came out. Kei looked a little frustrated now. She looked down into her bowl that was still mostly full of cold rice and glanced out the window one last time before she started to get up.

"Sorry," I said with a mouthful of food, making it sound very unintelligible. Kei looked back at me with a puzzled look.

"What?" She asked with squinted eyes and raised brows. I took a big swallow of food before trying to speak again.

"Sorry," I said more clearly. "I didn't mean to intrude on you." Kei's face softened.

"I did say I could hear you right? You didn't see anything I didn't want you to see." With that she walked out of the mess hall leaving me confused. Women. Making you think the small things are big only to tell you they don't matter. What words of wisdom would've my father had for that? I shook my head to clear out the confusing logic and finally got up to rid myself of my cold waffle leftovers.


	6. -Holding Off-

**Holding Off**

The next day, I was walking back from a lonely lunch when an airman came up to me to deliver a message.

"Good morning Sir, the Base Commander would like to see you."

I groaned, "Are you sure?" in a slightly sarcastic tone. Not understanding my resentment of the Base Commander, the man replied with a statement that sounded more like a question.

"Yes?" I looked at the man who seemed severely confused.

"Don't worry about it. I will be sure to report in. Thank you for the message." The man looked relived. He walked off and I continued to my room to get into my dress uniform. I didn't dare show up in anything less else I risked giving him cause to dismiss me. Once I was dressed up, I walked towards the Colonel's office. The whole trip there, I plagued my mind with worse case scenarios. Did the Base Commander find some way to get rid of me? Were they going to pull me off active duty? I was a nervous wreck the whole way towards the door. Finally I reached the wretched office. I knocked once on the frame.

"Enter," said the voice that I was already starting to hate, despite only brief and few encounters. I opened the door briskly and calmly closed it behind me. As I looked up from my mechanical operation of the door, I saw I wasn't alone with the Colonel this time. To the Colonels left was Captain Hamilton. He had that unreadable look on his face which signaled me to be prepared for the worst possible outcome or the best possible outcome and nothing in between. At least his presence here would keep the Colonel in check. I walked up to the desk pretending the presence of Captain Hamilton wasn't a surprise.

"Sir, second Lieutenant Irving, reporting as ordered." I held a salute while the Colonel gave me the stink eye.

"Sit," he ordered. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the Captain roll his eyes. So he knew that the Colonel was being a hard ass. I lowered my hand and took a seat that was to the left of the desk and patiently waited for the Base Commander to continue. "First of all, what was that stunt with throwing Osean tax money into the ocean? Maybe you don't give a damn about the people in this country-"

"Actually, sir," I interrupted, feeling emboldened by the presence of Hamilton. I knew with him here, I would at least be able to walk out of this meeting alive. "It's because I care about the people of this country, specificity my wing mates, that I jettisoned those bombs. Had I not, second Lieutenant Nagase may have been shot down." The Colonel just fumed in his spot for a while. I had to try with every fiber of my being not to smile smugly at his building anger. Eventually, he continued

"As you have probably gathered, even with your limited-" he paused as Hamilton cleared his throat. "... Capacity, Wardog squadron is without a commanding officer and is very low on pilots. Because we are now in an active war, these glaring problems cannot be allowed to persist. We tried to fix the commanding officer problem with Lieutenant Colonel Ford, but due to your 'accidental' inability to protect his aircraft-"

"Sir, let's keep this brief," Hamilton said. The Colonel dropped his menacing glare to glance over at Hamilton. I took this lapse in surveillance to do the same. It was then when I noticed that Hamilton had a golden oak leaf of a Majors rank on instead of a Captain. There must've been a shift in command that pushed him up. But that meant that Sand Island had a vacant spot for a flight Captain. Which meant... It suddenly all clicked. Despite the Colonel's menacing mood I was suddenly in high spirits and felt impervious to all his dagger stares. I still made sure not to smile outwardly but I knew the Colonel saw my change in spirits and it bothered him all the more.

"Yes. Right, second Lieutenant Irving, please stand." I stood up as I was ordered to. The next words were ones that I knew the Colonel was regretting saying even as they came out of his big mouth. "It is with great privilege and honor that I declare you Captain of Wardog Squadron." The man lumbered around his desk with new hard ranks and roughly removed my old ones to replace them with the new shiny bars. Once he had finished and walked back to his seat he looked at me with a sour face.

"Will that be all, Sir?" I asked.

"Get out you smug-" The Colonel caught himself, darting his eyes towards a Major Hamilton who was staring right back at him, and finished off with a flat and simple, "Yes."

"Good afternoon, sir." I saluted and waited a long time for the reciprocation. After the Colonel reluctantly saluted back I walked out of the room and softly closed the door behind me. I stood outside the threshold for a while with the dopiest grin I had ever had. Captain. I wanted to share it with someone. Only one person kept coming to mind. I ran down the hallways until I found the right one. I was tempted to keep running but figured that I shouldn't appear to be out of breath with the announcement I was about to make.

I hadn't been down Kei's hallway before. I had remembered her telling me that it was an all-women's hall, like mine was an all men's hall. But I hadn't expected it to be like this. As I walked down the hall, women would occasionally do a double take from in their room, and then once I had passed by, get up and stare from their door frames. There were fragrances that didn't belong on an active duty base, especially one this old. There were even a couple of... undergarments... plainly visible even with my gaze locked straight ahead. It was unsettling to say the least. I felt first of all, out of place, and second of all, a little unwelcome. I quickly began rethinking my plan on telling Kei here and now. A second after that thought, it was decided that another time would be better, only to be reaffirmed by the first giggle. Without making it too obvious, I quickened my pace to get to the other side of the hallway where there was an exit leading outside. Once I was in the balmy breeze, I took a big breath and made my way towards the hangars. Kei could wait to hear about my promotion. Besides, I was still unsure what her attitude was towards me after last morning.

When I reached the hangar, I saw Pop's working on a new aircraft, an F-16C. Beside it were three more of the same craft. When Pop's heard my footfalls, he put down his wrench, picked up a cloth to wipe his hands with and turned to face me. When he saw me, he gave me his trademark smile, bringing one to my face as well. When I got even closer, I saw his eyes dart to my new rank. He snapped me a playful salute which I waved off.

"Well, hello there Blaze. Or should I say Captain of Wardog?" He had his cheesy grin on causing me to chuckle a bit as I answered him.

"Please, Pop's. There is only one true captain of Wardog and I'm not him." Pop's put his hands up to show he would yield. We both began looking at the Falcons in the hangar.

"You know," Pop's stated. "Bartlett's nickname in the last war was 'kid.' I don't think he gave the name to you for any old reason." I thought back to the conversation Bartlett and I had after our first real engagement together. While no one here was willing to believe he had died, he had, at the very least, taken a forced extended leave of absence. It seemed like I had succeeded him in the role. Putting the contemplative thoughts on hold, I focused on the Falcon in front of me. It was a beautiful piece of equipment. The plane was about the same size as the Tigers we were flying right now, however, it had roughly four times the thrust. I walked towards the aircraft to get a closer look. Pops chuckled a bit at my intrigue. I looked back over my shoulder defensively.

"These planes are a couple steps up from our F-5's, Pop's. Forgive me if I'm a little interested in them." Pops once again threw his hands up in a yielding way. Satisfied that I had pacified him, I continued to walk around the plane. The larger control surfaces on the wings told me even from the ground how much more maneuverable the craft was and the large bubble canopy was a pilots dream for visibility. I then began thinking about the fly-by-wire system in the craft and how much more responsive it would be compared to my current plane. Just to tease my fantasy of flying it, I circled back around to the planes front. That was when I noticed it. Directly under the edge of the canopy was printed my name. 'Captain Caden 'Blaze' Irving.' I couldn't believe it. I stared at the fancy writing for a couple of seconds, blinking to make sure it wasn't something in my eye causing a misreading. I then turned to Pop's who was smiling like a fool.

"Before you get too happy, just know that we only got the bombs for it right now." My joy took a small hit but I was still in a state of euphoria.

"Just don't arm me with them then," I said as I ran over to the older mechanic and gave him a big hug with a couple of slaps on the back.

"Okay there, Blaze. Some of us aren't as young as we used to be." I released the man and smiled at him broadly. I then turned around to face the aircraft with him once again. "Command realized that if you continued to go into battle with dinosaurs, you might end up like them. It's no fifth gen. fighter but it certainly is a step up."

"I was about ready to try and hijack an enemy plane before it crashed," I told Pop's. "A rock with two feathers tapped on and a blown up balloon would be a step up from what we were flying." He let out a big snort at my bash on the F-5.

"And you were still able to become a, what is it now, quadruple ace? How 'bout that," he retorted. Continuing, he said, "When I was a pilot in the war 15 years ago, I was in a MiG-21." I looked at him and he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. Nodding as he continued, "Once you shoot a couple of enemies down in that brick, you let me know. Then we can talk about who had it harder." I loved Pop's passive/aggressive way of making you feel inadequate. Just the right amount of sting.

"You find one that still works and you and I can have a little fun," I said. Pop's cocked an eyebrow.

"You know what you're asking for?" he said in a way that reminded me of a bad Leasath mobster film.

"You know me, Pop's," I started. "Always up for a little fun." We flashed each other goodbye smiles as I walked off. It was only 1600 but it felt like it had been forever and a day since I slept. I walked back over to the barracks and to my room for a nap. When I passed by my door, I noticed that the base had already changed my name to read my new rank of Captain. Once I had gotten onto my bed, I passed out almost immediately.

**.oOo.**

I was trapped under the rubble of our house for 2 days. I got lucky with a rainstorm that gave me some water the previous night. The sun was just starting to set when I heard the sirens getting closer. I began yelling. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and I didn't care how hard it was becoming, I needed someone to know I was alive. The first day I had been calling out to my family for what must have been hours. I didn't hear any of them respond even once. I had yelled for so long and so loud that it had hurt to swallow afterwards. The vehicle that had been coming closer stopped and doors opened. I continued to yell, afraid they wouldn't hear me. It was only when they finally removed the last piece holding me down that I stopped yelling. I was given a bottle of water and a thick blanket while they called in more people to search through the rubble of my home. A team of ten people looked through my house that night and didn't find another living being. I was alone with the bodies of four people who had been alive and loving me three days earlier.

I was in a special mass refugee area that was a converted football field. It was specified for orphans of the incident. People from all over were here, most of them younger than me. Day by day, some children left, being reclaimed by surviving family members or, in rare cases, parents that had pulled through. I was left alone as more and more children left. After about two weeks, there were about 500 of us left. We became the States responsibility. We were moved into more permanent housing and given simple, second hand clothes. The only thing that was truly mine were my memories and the few pieces of shrapnel from my house that doctors hadn't been able to remove.

I avoided people. All they did was tell me how sorry they were for me and how I should look at the good side of all of this. But I was only 12. There wasn't anything good that was happening and I didn't want people's pity. Three months went by in the boys and girls home before I was assigned to a family that would take me in. However, before I was cleared to go, they had a 'trial run' in one of the extra rooms. I sat in the chair waiting to see who my new 'parents' were going to be. When they walked in, they were wearing simple clothes like I was. I could tell they had been through the same hurt I had. They didn't put on any fake smiles or even say anything. They just sat down across from me and looked me over like I was looking them over. They weren't my parents. They looked nothing like them... except... maybe... there was something in their eyes. Every part of them except their eyes was dull and worn, like it had been put through a sand blaster. But their eyes were bright and had that loving spark in them. Before I could think about this discovery much more, the man spoke up.

"I'm gonna level with ya kid," he started. His wife looked into his face with a threatening look but the man just ignored it. "People say that you're broken. That you're never going to be normal again. You're more trouble than your worth." This was news to me. Every couple that had come before had said things almost completely opposite. However, I had the feeling that this man was telling the truth. "But that's what we are too." The man's wife took his hand in hers and put her head on his shoulder. It was something I had always seen my mother and father doing. It was then that I realized that love was universal, a shared experience. It was something that these people could offer me. "We can't give you much; we lost a lot like a lot of people but-"

"I just want to be loved," I said quietly. The man still had his mouth open for his next thought and the woman suddenly opened hers in a gasp. She quickly released the man's hand and stood up from her spot to rush to mine and embrace me. It was the first time I felt loved since after the Ulysses incident, the event that resulted in millions of deaths and would soon be the cause of many wars. The man stood up as well and came to my other side to surround me in a hug as well. We all stayed like that with silent tears running down all of our faces, remembering what we had lost and hoping for something we could all gain. It originally was going to be a few weeks before I was released by the State but under the circumstances the staff had witnessed, I was headed to a new home later that day.

The first few weeks were very quiet. We were all afraid of saying something or doing something wrong. We only really spoke during meals to tell each other how good the food was or to give one word descriptions of the day. In the middle of the second week, I walked into the living room where the couple was seated. The man was reading a book and the woman was knitting something. The man noticed me first and put his book down on the end table loud enough to signal the woman. She looked up and when she saw me, put her needles down.

"I was wondering if you could hawser some questions," I said. The man just nodded and the wife followed suit. "Truthfully," I added. The man took off his reading glasses with a large sigh.

"Caden," He started. He hadn't called me anything more than my fist name. He wasn't pushing for more either. I liked him for that. "There is only one way I answer questions." He stopped and didn't say anything else. I finally asked.

"How?"

"Truthfully." He said plainly, with the slightest of smiles. I couldn't help but give a slight twitch of one back which, like a chain reaction, caused a faint one to appear on the woman's face as well. The man gestured over to a sofa across from him and his wife. The fire in the room was making a popping sound that filled the quiet between our conversation.

"Did you have kids before?" I asked. The man leaned forward in his chair, stealing a quick glance over at his wife who had done the opposite, leaning back into hers.

"Yes, a son who was about five years older than you." So they knew what to expect. Sort of.

"How long have you two been married?" It was an important question to me. I needed to know how long their love had been going, to see if it was the real stuff.

"About 19 years now," the man said as he looked over at his wife who was looking at him affectionately. Convincing.

"What's your job?" I asked. The man turned his attention back towards me. I liked that too. He would always look at the person he was talking to. I knew I wanted to be like that someday, confident.

"I'm a handyman. I usually do construction when there is a job around but I fix up other peoples older houses and generally lend a helping hand." That explained why he was so strong. And all of his tools.

"What about you?" I asked the woman. But before she could answer, the man spoke up again.

"Now, Caden, I know we aren't your parents and the last thing you want us to do is tell you what to do, but when you address a woman, no matter who it is, you do it with respect. You don't have to call my wife, Elizabeth is her name, 'mom' or anything, but at least address her as Ma'am or Mrs." This man was able to demand respect for the people he cared for, and I respected that.

"Yes sir," I said in a low tone. I turned back towards Elizabeth. "Mrs. Irving, what do you do for work?" The woman was quiet for a moment just looking back at her husband with a look of disapproval.

"Caden," she started as she looked back towards me. "You don't need to be so formal with us. Andrew is just trying to teach you some chivalry. You can call me Liz, Elizabeth just sounds too formal to me, and when you feel like it, mom or mother." She was somewhat red in the face after that, but she recovered quickly. "Okay with that out of the way, I'm a tailor. I work in town most of the time, well I used to. I've got to say I'm looking forward to working again. I can only knit coasters for so long." I smiled a bit at her chattiness. I was glad that we were all talking a little more openly.

"Thank you, both, for some answers."

"Anytime, Caden," Andrew responded.

**.oOo.**

The living room got darker and further away. The crackling of the fire was replaced by the sound of distant crashing water and sea birds. I slowly opened my eyes and found myself back in my dark room on Sand Island. I glanced over at the alarm clock. 0517. I must've slept for over ten hours. Guess I was more tired than I thought. I rolled out of bed unusually well rested. I decided to make the most of the day with a morning jog.

The air was just right for a run, cool but not cold and moist but not wet. I made my way to the shoreline and pulled off my shoes to run in the sand. I ran a lap around the island, working up a nice sweat before looking at my watch to see it was 0553. I slowed down to a cool-down speed and jogged to where I had left my shoes. But when I got to where I had left them, they weren't there. I was starting to think that I had left them somewhere else when I noticed a trail of foot prints in the sand leading away from them. Small footprints.

I searched around to see if she was still around. I decided she wasn't but could still be watching, so I walked back towards my room as if I hadn't even worn the shoes in the first place. When I got back to my room, the shoes were on the ground next to my door with a note placed beside them. Picking up all the items, I walked into my room to get ready for a shower. Once I gathered up all of the things I needed, I took a quick glance at the note. The handwriting wasn't cursive, which I was thankful for, but it was still very elegant.

I would like to talk about some things I'd like to get off my chest. Meet me at our table today sometime between lunch and dinner.

Kei

I walked to the shower to freshen up, the whole time thinking about what Kei wanted to share. I wanted to make the day go by fast so I could get to our meeting time and defeat some of the ideas that were rushing through my head. By 0800, I was eating a big breakfast, constantly scanning for any sign of Kei. While I didn't see any hint of her even existing, I did see Chopper, who saw me. Then Grimm saw Chopper and me. Only one more...

"Hey kid," Chopper said as he plopped himself down across from me.

"Hey," I said absently, searching around the room while poking at my oatmeal with my spoon.

"Good morning Captain Irving," Grim said very respectfully. It was the first time I could really look at him in some detail. He was even shorter than Kei was, and had big green eyes. He had somewhat messy brown hair and faint freckles on his cheekbones. Chopper gave him a confused look and then one of astonishment that he carried over when he looked at me.

"Captain, huh?" Chopper asked, reaching over to pat me on the back. "You know what that means, right?" I broke my blank stare I had been holding at the entrance of the mess hall and looked at Chopper as his eyebrows were raised in expectation.

"What does it mean?" I asked. I could tell by Grimm's face he didn't know either.

"It means that we get to follow you from now on! No more big-headed higher ups coming to take over," he finished with a smile on his face. Grimm put a slight smirk on his face as well. I could tell they were both happy to have me leading the squadron. But there was still one opinion I didn't have; one that mattered the most to me. We were talking about how different things would be now that I was leading when the airman who had called me to the Base Commanders office yesterday came by and told us there was a briefing going on and that we were to be in it. We all sighed, me more than the others. A briefing meant a mission, and a mission meant no meeting with Kei.

We rushed to the briefing room, me and Chopper both knew the Base Commander didn't like tardiness almost as much as he didn't like me. Grimm tagged along at a rushed speed because of the stories we had told him, most of them being true. As we filled the room and saluted to Hamilton who was at the front, I glanced around for Kei and saw her in one of the corners looking out the window. Not wanting to seem desperate for any information, I placed myself a couple seats away while still remaining close.

"Room stand-by," Hamilton called out. We all rose up from our seats and took a parade rest position. After a couple of moments, Colonel Perrault came into the room. "Room atten-hut!" Hamilton said in a firm voice. We all straightened out, making a loud clap of boots coming together.

"As you were," the Colonel said as he took his position at the front of the room as we sat back down. "Listen up. The biggest mistake Yuktobania has made in their blitz attack is that they failed to sink any of our aircraft carriers. We'll evacuate all intact carriers to our inland sea and use them as a base fleet to build our counter-strike force. You've been called to service on a very important operation, people. Keep that in mind out there." He reached down to the pulpit he was at and pressed a button, causing the lights in the room to dim and the blinds to shut. Then a blue light flickered to life as a projector came on and displayed the area of operation we would be in today. A recorded voice began to play as well.

"Today at 1500 hours, three carriers from the Third Osean Naval Fleet will rendezvous at Eaglin Straits. These carriers are the Vulture, Buzzard and, the Kestrel, which has successfully escaped from Port St. Hewlett thanks to your help. Your mission is to coordinate with the Kestrel and provide top cover for all carriers during the rendezvous. Should you encounter enemy attack, defend the three carriers at all costs." As soon as the recording was over, the lights came back on, the blinds opened up, and the projector cut out. It felt like I had just been in a Trek Wars briefing. The Colonel spoke up.

"Are there any questions?" He waited one full half a second before finishing with, "Good. You are to be ready for flight in 20 minutes at 1000. Dismissed." Hamilton quickly stood up.

"Room atten-hut!" he yelled again. We all stood up quickly at attention as the Colonel walked out of the room. Once he had left, Grimm was the first to speak.

"Wow, my first official mission," he said as if thinking out loud. Chopper started heading for the door to get ready for our scramble in half an hour.

"Don't worry about it too much there Grimm. With our new Captain, we could be done with this war today."

"I wish," I muttered under my breath after he had walked out of the room. I began to head towards my room to get a quick preflight shower in. I had already taken one today, but I wanted to be fresh as possible before I strapped myself into a plane for what seemed would be a very long day. I was stopped when Kei spoke up behind me.

"New Captain?" She asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah, didn't you know?" Grimm said as he turned to face her, eyebrow raised in mild surprise. "Blaze got promoted yesterday. He's our flight lead now." He turned to me and put a grin on his face.

"I'll see you in the sky," I said to him. He smiled wider and walked out of the room. I looked back at Kei who seemed at odds with herself. "You okay, Nagase?" I asked. She quickly shook the face off.

"Yes sir," she said stiffly. Uh-oh. Something changed. She seemed, far off all the sudden as she began to walk out of the room.

"Hey," I said after her. She stopped before reaching the door. The room had cleared out by now and it was just me and her talking. "What's that all about?" I asked.

"All of what, sir?" she asked like nothing had happened. The 'sir' thing was starting to drive me a little nuts and I began to understand why Pop's was so against it.

"First of all," I started, "don't call me 'sir.' It sounds weird coming from a friend." Kei shaded just the slightest bit and turned away a little to try and hide it. "Secondly, why are you acting all weird all of the sudden?" I asked, trying to regain her focus. She turned back towards me with the slightest of smiles on her face.

"It's nothing, I'll tell you about it after our mission, along with the other things I planned on telling you, I promise. You'll just have to wait." I pulled my head back to glare at the ceiling and groaned a little.

"You know you're driving me crazy with this secretive crap, right?" Her grin got wider as she headed towards the door to get ready.

"Why do you think I do it?" she said as she darted down the hall. I glanced at my watch. 0947. Dammit. No preflight shower this time. I ran to my room and stripped down to get into my flight suit. Once we were in the hangars, I looked at our F-16C's being prepped. I grinned as I saw the only plane missing bombs was mine. Pop's really does care. Chopper and I reached our weapons locker and grabbed our Personal Defense Weapons and then proceed to jump into our planes. Not too long after that, Kei and Grimm showed up. We were all in the sky headed towards Eaglin Straits by 0959. I knew the Base Commander would be secretly upset that he wouldn't be able to yell at me for not getting my flight up in the air fast enough.

It was the longest I had to fly without action yet. Five hours is a long time for anything, especially flying in a straight line. I auto-piloted most of the time and could tell the rest of my wing mates were as well by the way we stayed glued in formation. The monotony of it all was broken at 1430 when we were greeted over the radio by a tanker craft that was servicing all of the planes in the area for the operation. We topped off our planes quickly and then joined up with the rest of the planes at 1500 providing cover for the carriers. Chopper spoke up as soon as he saw the formation of aircraft.

"Well, this is going to be an easy one," he said.

"Chopper don't," Grimm started. "There's no wood in this cockpit to knock on and you're going to jinx us."

"Relax," he retorted. "All of these planes in the sky make it look like we're part of an aluminum cloud. There's no way the enemy would attack, if they could attack at all. Plus, with our captain here..." He didn't even bother finishing his sentence. "We've got it made in the shade now." At 1600, Thunderhead spoke up, giving us the news we had spent half the day waiting for.

"This is Thunderhead. We've arrived outside the range of enemy air attack. Permission granted to return to your assigned bases in sequence. Aircraft may refuel for the return trip if required. Hold above the carriers for the tanker aircraft." The various squadrons started breaking off, wishing goodbye's to other members of different squadrons. Pretty soon, we were the only squadron left, waiting for the tanker to come back from its base from its own refueling mission.

"Everyone's left. Can we go yet?" Chopper asked in a whiny voice that drove everyone crazy. It was the only reason he used it.

"Wardog Squadron," Thunderhead began, "I told you to wait for the tanker plane above the carrier."

"I swear man..." The cloudy weather that was threatening rain was starting to make me sleepy. The long flight we had been in wasn't helping matters either. I started trying to find things to busy myself with when I started messing around with my planes radar, seeing how far out I could make it detect. That was when I got a sudden boost of energy at seeing a white, unidentified dot about 10 miles out.

"Wardog flight," I said, "Check your radar at 10 miles out at heading 075." There was silence as the flight checked their interments. Chopper was the first to sound off.

"Hey... what is that? Is my radar on the fritz?"

Grimm spoke up soon after. "It's showing up on mine, too."

"Where'd it come from?" Chopper asked me. Before I could answer, he spoke up again. "How come the morons at Thunder-Blockhead didn't notice it? Yo, kid!" I was starting to get slightly annoyed with my inability to answer him when Grimm spoke up again.

"You have to call him 'Captain' now," he said in matter-of-fact way. What he didn't know was that was not what I was going for. I was about to tell him that when Chopper spoke again, Interrupting my train of thought.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, you think we oughta' report this?" He asked. I was about to answer him with a yes when Thunderhead came over the radio. It wasn't my day for speaking I guess.

"Enemy approaching! All units, return to your Combat Air Patrol stations! Protect the carriers! We have three of those things! Don't let them sink even one!" It would be a while before any of the other planes would get back. We would be on our own until then.

"Chopper, engaging."

"Archer, engaging," Grimm said as he dove off with Chopper.

"Edge, engaging." She started off in her own direction towards the Kestrel. The captains of the ships started coming over the radio.

"Hurry and launch the carrier jets." The ships I could see below me started to light up their decks.

"Blaze, engaging," I said as I pushed up on the throttle to meet up with the three blips on the radar I had spotted earlier. This was about to get interesting.


	7. -Reindeer of the Equator-

**Reindeer of the Equator**

I lurched back in my seat as the F-16C rocketed forward. The rain had started to come down and was now pelting the glass of my cockpit. The flight I was intercepting began to break apart from my approach. I chose a radar signature and began to follow it. Once I got into visual range I quickly identified the aircraft as an AV-8B Harrier and locked in to a chase. My first few reactions to the pilot's movements were too exaggerated from me being used to the relatively unresponsive F-5, however, after a couple more seconds following the enemy, I had it down. I noticed they were beginning to roll to the right so I quickly put my nose where their flight path would be and opened fire with my cannons. The pilot didn't have any chance at responding to the stream of bullets that pelted the middle of their plane, causing the complex engine of the Harrier to rip itself apart.

I glanced at my radar again to check on the other two planes. But there were now five planes on radar that weren't ours. One of the squadrons that had made it back began to join the fight.

"This is outside their flight range. How did they get here?" one of the pilots asked. Kei began thinking out loud.

"Visibility is poor. It's the perfect time and place for a surprise attack."

"Yeah," I agreed as I began to turn towards another enemy plane.

"I can't help but feel like everything's working against us," she continued. "How did the enemy know when to attack?" Grimm came on over the radio after a couple more moments.

"C'mon, I can do this," he muttered. "I've been through a real battle before." One of the enemy blips near him suddenly disappeared a couple moments later.

"Great job Archer," I yelled to the rookie pilot.

"Thank you Captain, but some thing's strange here. Is this what an enemy attack is usually like?" I was beginning to wonder that too. So far, the only planes we had seen were the Harrier's. They were okay for a naval attack, but had one of the worst fuel ranges for a naval attack plane. And this was far from any Yuktobanian air or naval base. I finally caught up with the bogey I had been tracking. The enemy aircraft was within missile range of one of the carriers. I closed in on him to get a good gun run when his plane slowed down drastically, causing me to overshot him.

"What the..." I said out loud as I streaked past the plane. I was confused for a moment until the rational part of my brain came back to me. The Harrier was a VTOL aircraft. It could hover in place for an attack. It could also take off from just about anywhere... I made a wide circle and slowed down my plane to get a more accurate fix on my target. These pilots were on a suicide mission and they knew it. They were trying to cause as much damage to the carriers as they could before being shot down. However, the best part about a harrier is also its worst part. When the aircraft is in its hover mode, it is an extremely easy target. My gun flashed to life as I sent bullets towards the enemy craft. The bullets pelted the plane casing it to destabilize and crash into the water 400 feet below, but not before one of its missiles flew towards the carrier Buzzard.

"Buzzard, missile coming at you from your eight-o-clock," I announced over the radio. The phalanx fire from one of the guns on the ship came to life and shot down the missile before it could impact.

"Thanks for the warning Wardog 1, there are too many radar signatures to tell what is what," the captain called out. I couldn't respond to his praise though, an enemy Harrier had gotten onto my tail. My lock on warnings began to wail at me as I hit the after-burner and pulled down on the flight stick. Once again, I had been expecting the reactivity of an F-5 and got a reality check when the F-16C pulled up its nose without a second thought, causing my stomach to fall out of my body. I fought off the unconsciousness that threatened my perception as the Harrier tried to follow the maneuver. Unable to sustain the high g turn, I loosened up on the turn radius as the Harrier shot past under me. I took some deep breaths regaining focus before engaging the Harrier. We flew around a little bit which wasn't a problem for me, as long as the other pilot wasn't firing on the ships. After a little game of cat and mouse, I noticed the plane in front of me begin to slow down.

"Not again," I muttered, knowing the pilot was about to perform a hover sequence. I slowed my plane as much as I could without stalling and opened up the cannon on the plane. I scored a hit on one of the main wings causing the plane to begin to roll, but the unexpected happened. The pilot forced the plane into a hover, diverting excess thrust to the left side of the plane to make up for the deficit on the right with its wing missing. He wouldn't be able to hold the maneuver forever, but he could get a missile shot off if he really tried to. I wasn't going to let that happen. I opened fire on him again, making sure to hit the main body of the aircraft. The plane struggled to stay aloft but ultimately fell to the force of gravity.

"This is Edge, radar looks clean but there are still missiles coming in."

"This is Thunderhead, roger. We've been tracking a formation of what originally looked like a flock of birds, but there seems to be missiles coming from their direction."

"Well," Chopper began. "Either the Yukes have learned how to train geese to fire missiles or those are stealth aircraft."

"My money's on the stealth planes," Grimm said.

"Really?" Chopper retorted. "I'd like to think the enemy is more creative than that but hey, whatever they are, they need to go down." We flew towards the formation of 'birds' and spotted the glint of their canopies in the misty upper regions of the clouds. They were F-35's and every time one of the planes would fire, its stealth signature was temporarily lost and could be seen better on radar.

"Wardog, engage," I ordered. My wing mates broke away and began to chase down the F-35's. It was a formation of three aircraft and each one of my wing mates went after a plane. I choose to double team it with Grimm. "Archer, I'm coming in on your six to provide some back up."

"Copy that," he replied. We began to chase down the fighter as it dove for the deck. The airplane would win out in an all-out speed race, but we could make sure it stayed in our sights with the right moves.

"Archer, you stay close to him until I tell you to break away. If you see a shot take it, but as soon as I say 'break,' you break okay?"

"Got it," he called out. The pilot in the F-35 would have to pull up eventually, and when he did, I would have my plane pointed at where he would end up. At 1000 feet, He began to pull out of the dive, no doubt in an effort to perform a loop that would put him at Grimm's six.

"Archer, Break," I yelled out. Grimm obediently pulled off to the left, clearly surprising the enemy pilot as he hesitated to complete his maneuver. I opened fire on the airplane and watched it destabilize into the water below. It was sad to think about the amount of money that had just been destroyed with a couple of 20mm rounds.

"Good kill Captain," Grimm said as he rejoined my eight-o-clock position.

"Good teamwork," I corrected. We flew up to join Kei and chopper just in time to see one of Kei's sidewinders explode with her opponent. "Where's Chopper," I asked aloud, not seeing him or his opponent in the immediate vicinity.

"GAH! Right here," he replied, bursting through one of the misty clouds, his after-burner making the dense cloud beneath him glow a beautiful yet deadly red-orange. His opponent came right behind him, his own after-burn a red-purple glow. If it hadn't been such high stakes, I would've sat back and watched the spectacle with wonder. But Choppers screams brought the whole situation back to reality.

"Right, Archer, Edge, form up on the enemy. I'll give him something else to chase." I punched it towards the enemy and flew right between him and Chopper. I snapped my head back around to see if he had taken the bait. He rolled to his right and began pursuit. I grinned mischievously behind my oxygen mask. Turning back around, I rolled until I was flying inverted and pulled back down on the flight stick, putting me into a steep dive. The enemy pilot repeated my move and began a linear trajectory towards the water below.

"Edge, Archer, do either of you have lock on the enemy?" I asked as we continued my dive.

"Blaze this is Edge, I've got a clear lock."

"Copy that. Fire as soon as you can."

"Edge, fox two," she said as soon as I finished my transmission. I did another half roll and pulled out of the dive, the enemy slowed down to follow but the missile impacted him before he could even try anything else.

"Nice shot," I said.

"Alright, I'm airborne. Come up and... Where are they enemy signatures?" The voice of the same pilot who had blown past us the day the port had been attacked seemed to be up in the air.

"This is Blaze of Wardog squadron. You're a little late to the show."

"Wardog? Weren't you the flight of rookies who was at St. Hewlett?"

"That's right," Chopper said with pride.

"The same flight who was bickering with a superior commander about who should lead the squadron?" he asked with a tint of venom in his voice.

"Yes," Kei said with less effort at hiding the malice she threatened in her voice at the person who was questioning her decision.

"It's also the same flight that just cleared up the skies you were too slow to protect," Grimm added in. This was starting to get too hostile for my liking.

"Whoa there, guys. He's on our side." I began searching my radar for the new comer's signature, spotting him approaching us at 6500 feet. "Look, I'm sorry about how this all started off. Let's start things fresh. I'm Blaze, flight lead of Wardog Squadron."

"I'm Chopper"

"Archer," Grimm began before correcting himself, "... or Grimm."

"And I'm Kei. Kei Nagase."

"It's nice to meet you all," The other pilot answered. "My call-sign is Swordsman, but on the ground people just call me Snow." Snow's F-14 came into sight. The bird was huge compared to our F-16's and was loaded to the brim with air to air missiles that made me envious of his advantage in a stand-off engagement. Suddenly Thunderhead broke the silence.

"Ballistic missile incoming!" I scanned the skies, looking for any hint of such a missile.

"A ballistic missile? Where'd they launch that from?" One of the Captains from the fleet suddenly spoke up.

"Hey... what is that?" Just then, there was a huge glow of light that burst from under the clouds, pushing them back and away from its epicenter, revealing a dimming scene of carnage. Then the shock-wave from the blast rattled our planes, causing us to fall out of formation in fear of a mid-air collision.

"Allied squadron wiped out! What Happened?!" cried out Thunderhead. One of the other Captains from the ships below spoke up.

"The carrier, the carrier's hit! It's tipping!" Sirens and alarms were blaring in the background of the transmission.

"Someone! Anyone! What's happening?" Kei cried out. We were all starting to feel the panic of the situation.

"I don't know!" Snow exclaimed. "Everything below 5000 feet was just annihilated!"

"Second missile incoming!" Thunderhead shouted.

"Dammit!" Snow said. "Listen up, all allied pilots. If you wanna' survive, then climb above 5000 feet before that thing hits!"

"What're we gonna do kid? I'll follow you." Chopper said.

"Are they sure it's 5000 feet?" Grimm asked as he rejoined the formation.

"We can't be sure," I started, "But the least we can do is get above that altitude. Let's move it!"

"This is Archer. Roger, I'll follow you, Captain." We began our ascent at rapid pace, climbing to 7000 feet before even thinking about leveling out.

"Ten seconds to next impact. Eight, seven..." I looked down to the odd circle of cloud clearing from the last blast. "Five, four, three, two, one, impact!" The area lit up again and I turned and blinked my eyes from the burning light that had blinded them a half second ago.

"The Vulture took a direct hit! She's sinking!" shouted one of the crew of the ships below.

"How... how could this happen to our fleet?" Snow mused aloud. He sounded lost and desperate.

"Heavy damage! All hands, abandon ship!" shouted the captain of the Vulture.

"This is the Kestrel. All surviving aircraft, respond."

"This is Swordsman. I managed to stay alive... the Wardog squad made it too."

"Two aircraft carriers lost... I can't believe this is all that's left of our force," Grimm said angrily.

"We don't have enough fuel to get back to base either," Chopper added.

"Wardog Squadron, we can't get a tanker aircraft over to you." Great, I thought. Survive an attack that kills hundreds of people and have to bail out because of fuel. "Proceed north-east to Heierlark Base, land and refuel." Oh. That worked.

"Hey!" Chopper yelled. "Kid!"

"You really should start calling him 'Captain.'" I about snapped at Grimm but didn't have to when Chopper did it for me.

"Forget it. If he's a Captain, then I want him to start trash-talkin' like a Captain. Man I'm missing that voice real bad now..." I took a moment to think about Captain Bartlett as well. What was he doing right now?

"He's got us back alive from battle for the second time," Grimm said, breaking the rest of ours somber thinking. "As far as I'm concerned, he's our Captain now." Kei suddenly spoke up.

"That's right." Her agreement to Grimm's statement caught me off guard. She had been so keen on getting Captain Bartlett back that I would've figured she would rather have him leading in place of me. "And I'll never lose my lead plane again. No matter what." We flew off towards Heierlark in relative silence, the three extra hours of flight time threatening to send me to sleep. When we finally landed, we got news on what had attacked the carriers. It was an advanced underwater attack carrier called the Scinfaxi. It was a project the Yuktobanian's had started during the tail end of the Cold War, but had supposedly been cancelled during Osea's and Yuktobania's joint effort in the Belken War. The attack today showed that they had in fact continued and finished the project.

As a result of this new information, high command decided to deploy the military power of the 'Arkbird' to neutralize the threat. While it had originally been built by Osea as a response to Yuktobania's super sub project, The Arkbird had been re-purposed after the Cold War. For a while, it had just been a scientific vessel with no strategic importance to the military. But after the Ulysses incident, a joint Yuktobanian and Osean project was proposed to use it as a debris eliminating vessel. Since then, it has cleared 80% of the asteroid debris. But now, it seemed, the military wanted to degrade its higher purpose back down to a weapons platform. When we got to Heierlark and out of our planes, I noticed Kei was acting particularly odd.

"You okay?" I asked her as we got out of our planes inside the relatively warm hangar. Chopper and Grimm had been parked in another hangar since they could only hold two planes at a time.

"Yeah. It's just that... being close to those nuclear craters with a war going on... it reminds me of the price war can have." For a moment, I was lost. Then I remembered what I had learned from a history class I had to take that was about Osea's history. During the war 15 years ago, the allied forces were making significant strides in winning the battle against Belka. In fear of being overrun, the Belken Government committed the unthinkable. They used nuclear warheads on their own soil, vaporizing their own cities near the allied advance. That was the day the war started winding down. It had been the event that had caused the allies to vow never to take up arms against each other ever again. So much for that notion.

"You're preaching to the choir," I said as I walked up to the exit of the hangar. I began pushing on the bar handle of the door, but it wouldn't budge. "You've got to be kidding me..." I said as I pushed harder on the door to hear the crackling of ice. I glanced back at Kei, who, just a moment ago, was in the worst of spirits, now had stupid grin on her face. I turned my attention back to pushing against the door. I drew in a big breath and rammed the door, causing it snap open and blast us with cold air. We ran towards the main facility, trying not to be in cold longer than we had to be. When we reached the front doors, we were greeted by a group of excited cadet pilots, who gladly opened the doors for us.

The night was made much more interesting by the cadets who were eager to hear about 'The Four Wings of Sand Island.' Apparently, Genette's article had made it here faster than our jet propelled aircraft. I picked up one of the articles that were strewn around the mess hall while Chopper gladly indulged the cadets' imaginations.

_The Four Wings of Sand Island_

_Today marks one week since I landed on Sand Island, a lone speck in the middle of a stunningly blue ocean. And yet, my head is still too confused, too full of thoughts to even begin putting them down on paper. That is the result of all that I've seen this past week; the events as well as the unique and courageous individuals I've encountered here. Sand Island is a very small island, nesting on a coral reef. Between the low-lying trees that line the coast, one can see many beautiful, colorful birds resting their wings. This quiet island, no more than a two-hour trip to circumvent on foot, seems far more removed from any unpleasant notion such as war. However, on this very island lies an airbase owned and operated by the Osean Air Defense Force. The base, located on the edge of Osea's western border, is home to the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Air Force, a unit whose defense perimeter covers the entire Ceres Ocean. Now, after a sudden and unexpected chain of events, I've become a front-line war correspondent here._

_News of Yuktobania's declaration of war spread throughout the island instantly. Soldiers gathered at the mess hall and clamored for a view in front of the big screen TV. Then I noticed a pair of soldier standing apart from the noise, casting a thoughtful gaze at the screen from across the room. He is the mechanic on this base. "This is how it always goes when war breaks out," he said in a voice as calm and steady as his gaze. "It just starts up so randomly, in some remote place that none of us have ever heard of. But we're the ones who have to fight to end it. All we can do is do our jobs the best we can, and get this pointless war over with as soon as possible."_

_What did the soldiers think of this sudden war? I asked a few of them, one, the only female pilot in the squadron had this to say. "I guess for now, each one of us must continue to think about the best course of action we can take…," she said. And with that, she hurried back to the crew quarters. It was indeed her actions, along with those of her comrades that saved Port St. Hewlett from total destruction after a surprise attack from the enemy. All around me, I hear people saying that if the four fighters from Sand Island never came to provide support, Port St. Hewlett would have been annihilated for sure. The sheer brilliance displayed in the air by this four-ship formation is, unfortunately, beyond anything I can convey in words. Any attempt to capture their maneuvers on film has resulted in my gaze numbly following their contrails, feeling as though I was being lifted up into the blue sky right along with them._

_The four pilots who saved the naval port from disaster are all just young adults. Watching them joke around with each other, one would see a typical group of youngsters, no different from anyone else their age. But once airborne with a mission ahead of them, their eyes gleam with the sharpness of veteran fighter pilots. Another pilot, a Second Lieutenant, graciously answered my questions, choosing his words carefully. He is my host, the occupant of the room I'm staying in during my visit to Sand Island. "I don't care how tough training is, it's always better than the real thing," he said. "Am I scared? Of course I'm scared. But right now, I'm more scared of doing nothing."_

_Fighters are taking off from here on missions quite frequently now. The tension inside the base has risen to an almost palpable level. Admittedly, there are many limits placed on the fact I can present from this place. I am bound by an agreement with the Osean Department of Defense to not report any operations that could endanger the lives of its soldiers. However, I believe my mission, and my fate, is to watch the tides of war unfold from here, together with these soldiers. What I have seen, and what I will see in the days to come, may only be a small, insignificant part in the entire war. And yet, I can't help but wonder where these four wings of Sand Island will be, and what truths will be revealed, once this war is over._

_Albert Genette_

_OBN Journal_

_Wednesday, September 29, 2010_

As I put the article down, I looked up to see the rest of the cadets laughing at some joke Chopper had just made and Kei with her hand over her face in a futile attempt to hide herself from the attention Chopper was eliciting. I stood up and began walking to the front of the crowd, cadets reverently making way for me and muttering 'Good evening sir' left and right. Now I really understood why Pop's had put a stop to people calling him sir. It was too annoying. Once I reached the front of the room, I put my hand on Choppers shoulder and faced the gathered crowd.

"Alright," I started looking out into the crowd I had been in no more than two months ago. "It's getting late for old 'war heroes' like us so I'm going to call it a night." The crowd let out a collective mumble of disapproval but over it all, I could hear Kei mutter a 'thank you.' The cadets began to clear out and the four of us headed to the Base Commanders office for instructions on where to bunk for the night. It was odd not having to fear going to the office as I usually did at Sand Island. Once we received our assignments, I headed straight to the room to get ready for a shower.

I woke up the next morning at 0600 and began getting ready for the day. We would be flying back to Sand Island after a quick breakfast and probably be back by 1200 if we left on time. I headed to breakfast to put some food in my stomach before the long flight. While I was eating, the rest of my flight sprinkled in. We were all eating and talking with each other by 0630. That was also about the time a Staff Sergeant walked up to our table and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, are you all Wardog squadron?"

"Yes ma'am," I responded for our table. I could tell the woman was conflicted about something but until she spoke I had no idea what.

"I've been ordered to inform you that you will be escorting three flights of rookie pilots back to Sand Island to help bolster numbers after the September 23rd incident." Kei immediately stared the woman down.

"But they're just rookies!" she exclaimed in a voice that reminded me of a concerned mother.

"Ma'am," began the Staff Sergeant in a somewhat distressed voice, "I know that. Trust me when I say this isn't my call." Her head hung for a moment and I could all tell she was going through a tough time relaying the information to us. She lifted her head up after a moment and looked around, checking if anyone but us was going to hear what she would say next. After she was satisfied that the coast was clear, she leaned in to our table and we leaned towards her. "Please," she started in a desperate voice, "Just make sure they stay safe. They weren't supposed to go to war. None of them were. None of us expected this." Kei suddenly seemed to realize something that the rest of us didn't pick up on.

"Oh..." She reached and grabbed the other woman's hand. "I'm sorry. About yelling." The woman just nodded her head, not having the energy to look at us. After another moment, she walked off.

"What was that about?" I asked once she had left the room.

"I'll tell you about it-"

"Later?" I interrupted with a slight grin. Kei just gave me a look that I would have to guess she would give to a three year old who had just done something they knew they shouldn't have. "Right," I said as I resumed eating my breakfast.

We headed out at 0730, the four of us who were in Wardog flew our F-16C's and the twelve rookies with us flying some F-5's. We had to land at nearly every air base on the way back because the rookies didn't know how to re-fuel mid-flight. We were at McNealy Air Force Base when one of the fueling crew began waving his hands in front of my plane like crazy. Then the control tower came on over the radio.

"Blaze, this is McNealy AFB control. You have been ordered to report to our briefing room immediately with the rest of your flight, over."

"Roger that control," I said with confusion coming across my voice. "Wardog and accompanying squadrons," I began, "We have been ordered to McNealy's briefing room. Shut down your aircraft and proceed to the briefing room at once."

"Copy that Blaze," Kei said over the radio. One by one, our plane's engines came to a halt. As we headed to the building, Kei came running over to my side.

"What's this about?" she asked quickly, a tinge of concern just barely discernible in her voice.

"I don't know," I said shrugging my shoulders. "The control tower just told me to get everyone to the briefing room." Kei nodded her head but the worry didn't leave her. When we reached the room, there were some pilots sitting down waiting and a man with graying short hair waiting for us.

"Please, take your seats. Time is of the essence so I'll make this brief." I exchanged worried glances with the rest of my flight. "I'm the commander of McNealy Air Force Base. A Single Stage to Orbit, or SSTO, launch facility named Basset Space Center lies to the south-east of our current location. The facility was a collaborative project between Osea and Yuktobania. It was built to be a bridge to outer space with a Mass Driver 7.5 miles long." A lot of what the commander was saying was old news to me; I had studied the Mass Driver and Arkbird in college as one of my final physics projects. "Our radar had detected several planes from a Yuktobanian squadron approaching the facility from several directions. What makes matters worse is that the facility is currently conducting pre-launch operations for an SSTO craft." Now that was news. There were some murmurs among the rookie pilots. Some sounded excited while others seemed terrified. The commander continued.

"All units including those refueling at this base are now under my command. Engage the incoming enemy. All untrained pilots are barred from taking off. You guys are still kids." There was a collective sigh as the cadets heard the news. I noticed Kei relaxing as well. The man dismissed us and the people who were able to participate immediately stood up and left the room, myself included.

We rushed back out to our waiting F-16C's. Joining us was the squadron stationed here at McNealy, Reindeer squadron. Their name was a paradox with their base of operations practically on the equator. They would be fighting the all mighty F-15E's. I briefly thought about what it would be like to have a second person flying with me. It seemed like a distant thing so I quickly refocused on the situation at hand. Once the four F-15's took off, I taxied onto the runway to take to the air. Within minutes, we were all in the air and heading to BSC.

"Wardog flight lead Blaze, this is Rudolph, leader of Reindeer squadron. Do you read my copy?"

"Copy Rudolph," I reported in, trying desperately not to laugh at his call-sign.

"It's a pleasure to be flying with the Four Wings of Sand Island. You already know my call-sign. My number two here is Vixen."

"Goo' 'fternoon Blaze," came the voice of a man who had a thick Shannon city accent.

"My number three there is Blitzen."

"Ay, what's up Blaze? Man, I wish we had us some cooler name's like you all got. We stuck with these silly ass names."

"Second lieutenant Thompson! Clean that mouth up before AWACS gets here and reams me for your foul language."

"Sorry, sir. Just being real with our new friends here." I could tell that, if given the chance, Chopper would be hanging around Blitzen for a little while.

"And last but not least we have Dancer there in the back. She doesn't like to talk much but her Combat System Officer Gabriela is quite the Chatty Kathy."

"Rigel, that wasn't funny!" came the offended voice of what I could only assume was Dancers CSO.

"Blaze," she began addressing me directly. "Don't listen to our flight lead. Well, don't listen to him about what he has to say about us. Actually, you should probably listen to everything he says except what he has to say about me. He's just trying to be Mr. Cool for-"

"Dammit! What is with my flight and their inability to follow basic military protocol?"

"This is AWACS Thunderhead. Captain Rigel V Garrison, clean up the language. This is an official operation. We do not tolerate that kind of verbal outburst." From my position at Rigel's eight-o-clock high, I could see him calmly reach up and turn off his mike before initiating a furious scream at nothing. Judging by the reaction of his CSO behind him it was quite the outburst. After a few more moments of silence, the click of his mike coming back on could be heard.

"I apologize, Thunderhead," he said in a slightly raspy and out of breath voice. "I'm sure it won't happen again."


	8. -The Woman From the Kingdom of Sapin-

**The Woman from the Kingdom of Sapin**

"Ten minutes to launch," came a new voice. It was one of the ground crew in charge of launching the SSTO.

We reached the operation airspace at 1200. The time we were supposed to be back at Sand Island. Relaxing. Maybe on a beach. Maybe with Kei, telling me the things she told me she would tell me. Instead, we were entering a battle zone that was already starting to become populated with enemy aircraft. Life, sometimes.

"Rudolph, this is Blaze. I suggest we split up and handle different quadrants."

"Good idea Blaze. My flight will take the area north of here; you and yours take everything over the water."

"Copy that." We split up and headed in different directions. The area was beautifully peaceful. The Mass Driver was right on the edge of the coastline that ran east to west, pointing up into the sky where we could just make out the faint white outline of the Arkbird grazing the atmosphere. Behind the facility and to the north where Reindeer Squadron was headed were mountains that almost separated this place from everywhere else.

"Blaze, this is Edge. Radar shows bandits approaching. Looks like two flights of four coming from the south east and south west."

"Kid, this is Chopper. I suggest we split up to deal with these guys separately."

"Good idea Chopper. Archer, you have Choppers back?"

"Always sir," Grimm replied eagerly. Kei and I split off from Chopper and Grimm to head to intercept the flight coming from the south east.

"Blaze, this is Rudolph. We have encountered enemy attack planes. They've got everything from Tornado's to some F-2 Vipers. Keep an eye out."

"Copy that Rudolph. Thanks for the heads up." I began to push my throttle up to a higher setting. I didn't want these guys to get anywhere near the facility.

"Three minutes to launch," came the voice of the ground crew member. Suddenly another voice could be heard.

"Halt the countdown! Enemy incoming! This is the Base Air Defense Command. The enemy has a large formation of transport planes escorted by a squadron of fighters. They're conducting an air assault to capture this base!" I looked back to my own radar. While it wasn't anything as sophisticated as what the control tower was using, I could see now that there were two larger radar signatures escorted by two smaller ones. I looked out of my canopy to see the glint of glass in the distance. We would have to shoot down the escorts before getting any kind of shot at the transports.

"What?!" Kei asked suddenly, snapping me out of my thinking. "They're actually planning to invade Osea?" It was a little surprising to me too. What would they hope to accomplish with a couple of transports and fighters occupying a small sliver of our country? Granted, the mass driver could be seen as a threat to the enemy but still...

I was at engagement distance now and decided to dive after one of the smaller craft. Kei instinctively dove for the other. They were two F-16's as well. This would be a fight of pure skill. We were approaching from the enemy's ten-o-clock high. As soon as they saw Kei and me diving for them, they initiated evasive maneuvers, never straying more than 1500 feet away from the C-130 transport planes they were escorting. As we got into gun range, the real fun began. I latched on to one of the pilots sixes while Kei did the same with her adversary. The fighter pilot in front of me would be in my sights one second and then 40 degrees off of boar sight the other. I closed in on him as close as I dared. Soon, I was no more than 30 yards off my enemies six.

"This is Archer! I've lost the captains radar signature! Has he been shot down?!" I wanted to let him know I was alright but the enemy in front of me was demanding all of my attention. Luckily Kei still had an eye on me. She always did.

"This is Edge, the captain is in close with his opponent," she said coolly. "I've never seen anyone dogfight so close in a jet like that." Her statement this time was filled with amazement and wonder. I wanted to see where she was observing from but the enemy had just pulled a crazy barrel roll combined with a high G loop with full air-brakes. Before I knew it had happened he had me in the cross hairs. I pushed the throttle to the max my body flying back into my seat. I knew his plane would have trouble catching mine after the stunt he had just pulled. I rocketed forward, being pressed into my seat as the engine threw extra fuel into the exhaust of my engine to produce a 'controlled' explosion of thrust. I pointed the nose of the plane into the sun, pulling down my visor to help with the intense rays of light that began to fill my canopy. I flung my head around to get a glance behind me. The bogey craft was a good 200 yards away, a similar stream of fire coming from the back of his plane as he struggled to play catch up. Once my altitude reached 25,000 feet, I pulled back on the throttle, leveled out, and banked a hard right turn.

My opponent was on the scene in seconds, shooting up an extra 1000 feet higher and performing a parabolic banking maneuver that would give him both a speed and height advantage. That was when I saw the side of the F-16's fuselage. Below the pilots name was a large collection of painted antlers, the Yuktobanian way of counting kills. At least 30 were painted on the side of the aircraft.

"Dammit," I muttered as the enemy streaked up to his higher position.

"What is it, Blaze?" Kei asked, a tone of worry coming through.

"Nothing, just... a piece of dust in my eye. Did you handle your bogey?" I asked as I began to fly in irregular patterns, trying to confuse the enemy ace as best I could. I couldn't let anyone know who I was fighting up here or else they would abandon their duties and try to help out, and if they weren't there to hold anyone else off, this launch would fail.

"Yes... do you need assistance?" she asked. Even from this altitude, I could see the glint of her aircraft begin to orient itself towards my position.

"Negative. Take care of those transports. I don't know what they're carrying but it can't be anything good." The enemy pilot was now back on my six.

"Roger that." I began to focus on how I would get out of this situation. I cut my throttle suddenly and pulled full air-brakes, pointing my nose up at a 65 degree angle. My air speed plummeted from 1200 mph to 500 in seconds, almost stalling my aircraft and flinging me forward into my harness with the force multiple times that of gravity. I grunted loudly as a sudden pain came to my chest, but the effect on the enemy pilot was immediate. The enemy plane flew under me just a couple hundred miles an hour under Mach 2. As my speed continued to fall, the nose pitched down again with not enough lift being produced by the wings, but I was expecting this. I opened fire with the 20mm cannon and saw at least three rounds strike the enemy aircraft as the nose came over the enemy. The plane began trailing thick black smoke. My plane however, was now in an un-powered, un-controlled 90 degree dive towards the earth. My speed went up from 350 to 900 in seconds as the plane fell from 27,000 to 19,000 feet. Eventually, there was enough force to get lift again and return of control. I looked back up into the sky and saw the enemy pilot still smoking and flying to the west, no doubt trying to escape the area.

I pushed up on the throttle and got behind the opponent with ease. I sat there for ten seconds with lock on tone and my index finger right above the gun trigger, deciding on what to do. This pilot had killed so many in the sky, yet, so had I. I couldn't just shoot him while he was wounded like this. The enemy pilot wasn't even trying to evade, making the whole thing more pathetic. I sighed and put my guns on safe, pulling away to rejoin Kei. Another day, we would fight again, or maybe, hopefully, we never would.

"This is Blaze. I'm rejoining the fight."

"Did you get him?" Chopper asked. He was too far off to see the engagement.

"Not today," I said in a distant voice. "He escaped before I could shoot him down."

"Typical Yuke," Chopper began. "Running away when the going gets tough."

"This be Blitzen. Chopper, man, you got some skills. That's like the third plane you downed." It sounded like Grimm and Chopper were getting the brunt of the assault.

"Ha!" Chopper said in a loud voice that took my mind away from the enemy ace quite quickly. "You should see my Captain when he fights. Kid's got so much skill he makes me look like a drunkard piloting a falling lawn mower."

"Dat true Blaze?" Vixen asked.

"I'm only another pilot in an outstanding squadron. We all rise to the occasion when it presents itself. I really don't know why you've got to put me on some kind of pedestal, Chopper."

"Cause you're friggin' amazing! That's why! What is it now? Over 25 kills?"

"A kill score isn't what matters in life," I told him as chills began to creep up my arm. "It's who you're flying with," I finished under my breath, soft enough not to be picked up on the mike. My father's word's seemed to work its way into my life.

"A modest Ace. There's something you don't hear of everyday," a woman's voice said. It was thick with an accent that caused her words to roll off her tongue.

"Who's this?" Kei asked reflecting my own state of confusion.

"This is 1st Lieutenant Azarola, call-sign Dancer." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "You're modesty is a rare trait in pilots of your skill, Blaze." There was a long pause as everyone waited for the voice to continue. It was so new and different that everyone wanted to hear more of it. Once I realized she was done speaking, I responded.

"Thank you?" I said in a slightly confused voice. It was unusual for me to be complemented while flying. Well, actually, it was unusual for me to get complemented period. The only other people who had done so recently were Captain Bartlett before he had been shot down and Kei's subtle hints that I was a great pilot. I usually don't even like people giving me praise but with those two, I didn't mind.

"Don't mention it," was the enigmatic reply of the woman in Reindeer Squadron, bringing me back from my musings. There was a few seconds of silence before her CSO began to talk. Unlike the pilot, hardly anyone seemed interested in what she had to say.

"WOW! That was like, the most you've spoken since I've been assigned as your CSO, Azarola! You have such a pretty voice; you should use it more often!"

"Be quiet, please," the first Lieutenant responded firmly. But Gabriela kept coming.

"But seriously, I never get to hear you talk and it's so beautiful the way you say 'dancer.' You say it with so much passion. Like you used to be one or something."

"Gabriela, please stop talking," Azarola said with a hiss that was lost on the CSO.

"Oh my GOD! The way you say my name is amazing! Say-"

"SILENCIO!" yelled the Lieutenant. After that, there wasn't another peep on the radio. That is until one of the transports finally got within range of the Mass Driver.

"What the..." Chopper began. Kei and I had been loitering for some time in our quadrant as no enemies were incoming and I turned my head towards the direction of Choppers attention. "Holy crap! Kid, they're dropping air born tanks at the facility! The transports are carrying tanks!"

"Copy that Chopper, thanks for the heads up. Flight, focus your efforts on the facility and tanking out those tanks before they get to the mass driver."

"Roger," Grimm reported.

"Copy that Blaze," Kei sounded off.

"Reindeer squadron, can you try and hold off the remaining transports and provide top cover while we take care of enemy ground forces?"

"This is Rudolph. Copy that Blaze. Reindeer squad, disperse. Don't let any transports get near the facility. Keep an eye out for those Tornado's too. I don't want Wardog to have to see another enemy plane today!" I tried not to laugh at the commander of Reindeer squadron. He sounded so... dramatic, it was almost sad.

There weren't too many tanks that made it to the ground and none of them made it to the first pillboxes around the facility before we took care of them. The space center staff could be heard over the radio talking in the background.

"We're getting requests from every team to restart the launch!" The man sounded desperate to get the launch going as well.

"No! We can't! If that SSTO craft is hit, and we try and launch it, it could disintegrate before it even leaves the ramp, or worse blow up the ramp itself!"

"He's right, it'd be crazy to try to launch in the middle of all that enemy fire," came another voice.

"We can handle this!" countered the first. A moment passed before the second man spoke again.

"I'll try one more time to convince the higher-ups to launch." After a few more moments of silence, the man spoke again. "Chief, this is unacceptable! Please, restart the countdown!" I was drawn away from the ground side drama when the control tower of the space center began speaking again.

"It looks like they've abandoned the ground invasion and decided to just destroy the base. Large number of cruise missiles tracked on the outer edge of our radar coverage. All fighters, engage and destroy these cruise missiles." I checked my own radar and saw small signatures heading towards the Mass Driver.

"This is Reindeer squadron leader. All enemies are bugging out. Requesting permission to join the effort in destroying the cruise missiles."

"This is Blaze, no need to ask for permission. Shoot them all down before they hit the structure." I applied full dry thrust to intercept a group of the missiles coming from the south west. As I was flying to intercept the missiles I saw a black object flash in the sky another mile out from the cruise missile signatures. I applied full after-burn and surprised myself with what I saw next.

"This is Blaze to all friendly units. I have visual on a Black Delta. I repeat, we are dealing with B-2's that are launching the cruise missiles."

"Copy that Blaze, it makes sense now why we couldn't pick up the missile signatures earlier." I began to put myself in a firing position for the B-2 as it tried in vain to flee the area.

I opened fire with my cannons and saw the large radar signature for the aircraft suddenly appear on my radar as its stealth was compromised by the holes in its airframe. Eventually, the damage to right engine became too much and it erupted in a fire ball that broke the whole right end of the wing off, causing the plane to begin an un-controlled spin towards the ocean. The two pilots ejected before there was impact.

"This is Blaze to control. I've got two B-2 pilots at my position waiting for us to pick them up."

"Copy that blaze, we'll get a search and rescue to pick them up for interrogation." I turned back around and headed towards the cruise missiles that the now downed aircraft had launched.

"This is Edge. I can see the enemy B-2 that has launched the missiles but it seems to be bugging out. I think you scared them off Blaze."

"Well he may have scared off the bombers, but those missiles are still coming in," Chopper said.

"Okay Wardog, let's focus on these missiles."

"Copy that Captain," Grimm responded.

"Chopper engaging."

"This is Edge, roger that Blaze." We all began to focus on a missile. I spotted one and got behind it. The missiles were putting enough heat for my missile tone to sound off.

"Blaze, Fox Two." The missile flew off the rail without incident and exploded, causing secondary explosions from the cruise missile.

"This is Flight Director Adam Gittelman." said someone over the radio. I then remembered we were protecting an SSTO. "Continue SSTO launch. Recommence Launch sequence. Attention all personnel: We only have one chance to launch. Let's all do our jobs and see this through to the very end. That is all!"

"Damn," Vixen said. "Now there's a thing you don't go and see ery' day. Dat civi is almost as dedicated as my pa is when he's wrangling a catfish."

"I'm guessing that means a lot," Grimm said flatly to the man.

"You can bet your gritz on it," Vixen responded.

"This is Edge, all missiles in my area have been shot down." After a few more moments, she asked a question. "Blaze, do you know why the Arkbird was built?"

"Yeah," I said distantly. It was originally meant to be an extraterrestrial research and transport vehicle. But when Yuktobania and Osea, two former Cold War advisories, worked together at the conceptualization and construction of the craft, it took on a new meaning of hope for a long lasting peace.

"Ironic isn't it?" she asked. She sounded almost hurt behind the words she was relaying to me. I wondered what the spacecraft mean to her.

"2nd Lieutenant Nagase, why was the Arkbird built?" Grimm asked.

"Well," she began taking a deep breath, "It sure wasn't built for missions like this."

"Final preflight check," began one of the ground crew. "All stations go over everything one last time."

"Come on, have they launched yet?!" Chopper yelled in frustration. I was inclined to agree with his reasons for being upset. These people were taking forever. Of course, you never could be too careful when you had a large laser to send to space using a huge rocket.

"The Air Force will get us through this! I know they will! So don't give up!" yelled one of the ground crew to his team.

"Five, four, three, two, one, zero! Rocket start!" one of the crew said. A large boom suddenly surrounded the area before my noise canceling ear muffs cut it out. "SSTO increasing speed!" I checked out of my planes canopy to see the large craft starting to speed across the track it was on.

"Crap! This is Blitzen, a cruise missile just got past me! Someone, intercept that thing!"

"SSTO passing check point one!" Even though my headphones were trying to cancel out the sound, the loud boom of the craft going supersonic got to me. "SSTO passing check point two!" I could see the missile that Blitzen had missed now. "Passing check point 3!" The missile impacted where the vehicle had been a second ago. "Mass Driver hit by cruise missile!" Another man came over the radio in a very concerned voice.

"SSTO status report!"

"Everything's clear. All systems are go." We all let out a collective breath as we watched the rocket hurtle up into the air at incredible speed. "SSTO is climbing smoothly. Congratulations."

"Great job Wardog and Reindeer squads. RTB," Thunderhead announced over the radio. We all began heading back to McNealy to finish off the mission. As we began to form up for the trip back, one of the F-15's from Reindeer came up to my four-o-clock position. I swiveled my head to look at the aircraft. Near the canopy on the side of the plane was the name '1st Lieutenant Marcelia 'Dancer' Azarola.' Before I could say anything, she did.

"That was some impressive flying, Blaze. Would you mind if we spoke after we land? I have some... questions I'd like to ask you." I noticed that Kei edged her plane a little closer to mine, just barely noticeable.

"Um, I suppose that would be alright. I'll see you when we land."

"Thank you, Captain Irving." She inverted her plane and yawed over to her flight before flipping the aircraft back over. The rest of the flight back was fairly uneventful. My squadron landed first, the fuel in our aircraft almost gone compared to the significant amount left in the F-15's that accompanied us. Kei and I pulled into our hangers just as the first member of Reindeer landed. As soon as I began to un-strap myself from my harness, I hissed in pain. The ground crew around me suddenly kept me from moving.

"Hold it Captain, looks like you busted something up there," one of the crew said.

"Hey," Kei said coming to my plane, worry coming to her face when she saw me surrounded by ground crew and still in my plane. "What's wrong?" she asked quickly.

"Nothing," I said, trying to push one of the crew members aside but wincing at the motion.

"That's the worst lie you've ever told me," she said crossing her arms. I couldn't help but smile at her attitude. The smile quickly faded as soon as one of the people up with me probed my chest. Kei's attitude disappeared just as fast. "Hey!" She yelled at the guy who had been prodding me. "He's obviously hurt! You don't go poking people when they're hurt, you get help!" she said shouting at a volume I wasn't used to hearing from her. I looked at the man to my right and he had eyes the size of walnuts. "SO GET HELP!" Kei yelled at him. He just nodded and hopped down, rushing out of the hanger to go get some medical help. The rest of the crew also got down and away from me afraid of the wrath the woman might cause them. I began to struggle with getting out of the aircraft by myself. Once I reached the ground, I turned and gave Kei a weak smile. She just sighed and waited for the rest medical crew to show up. I started to walk off when she reached out and stopped me.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" she asked with a very serious face.

"It's my chest that's hurt, not my legs." Her face told me she was not impressed by my attempt to walk out of the building.

"Well, like you said, your legs may be fine but your chest is hurt. That means your breathing is going to hurt you too. Just wait here until we get something to carry you in," she said trying to appeal to my logic.

"What? No. No, no, no. I'm not going to be wheeled out of here like I broke my legs. I'm walking to the medical ward." I started to trudge towards the door before Kei jumped in front of me again.

"Blaze, seriously, you're only going to hurt yourself more if you keep moving. Just wait here for something." I tried to push past her but it hurt too much. "Blaze, if you won't do it for yourself, do it for me." I looked at her deep, brown eyes and could feel my heart hasten.

"Fine," I said, before she could realize what was happening to my willpower. "But it's not because I can't walk."

"Whatever," she said with a slight triumphant smirk. The ground crew member that had left came back with a wheelchair that Kei took from him rather forcefully and helped me into. As soon as I was inside the building, Chopper came up to me and Kei with a concerned look on his face.

"Hey, you alright Kid?"

"I'm fine Chopper. Probably just some bruising. Kei's over-" I was interrupted by a slap on the back of the head by none other than Kei.

"You men and your pride issues," she muttered under her breath as I rubbed the offended part of my skull. "He's right about being fine Chopper. Hopefully. We're just being cautious. He could've been hurt worse than we know so, we're just being cautious," Kei said, making it clear she was being 'cautious.' Chopper looked at Kei with a confused face and then turned his gaze to me with no change in expression.

"Okay..." he said slowly, like he was thinking about something really deep. "Just be careful with him, Nagase." He walked off to where I could only assume was the mess hall for something to eat. The thought of food suddenly made me very hungry.

"Say," I started as Kei rushed me down the hallways. "Since you're so dead set on not letting me walk, would you mind making me a sandwich?" My request was met with another slap to the head. "What?! It's a serious question! I'm hungry and tired and haven't gotten a good meal or rest since two days ago."

"Sorry," Kei said quickly, "I thought you were trying to be funny again."

"Well I was trying to be a little funny. You can be so serious some of the time. It's good to see you laugh."

"I'll tell you what," she began. "We get you checked out and we can have that conversation I've been meaning to have with you. We can even get some food if your belly needs it."

"Sounds good. Oh, but Azarola wanted to talk about something." I noticed the knuckles of Kei's hands turn a little whiter as she gripped the handles on my wheelchair tighter.

"I don't think she planned on talking too much," Kei began in a voice that sounded tenser than usual to me.

"Oh." I said plainly, not quite understanding. Then it hit me. "Ooohhh." now it made sense. "That was why she was all..."

"Right," Kei said holding the same tense strain in her voice.

"Well," I started looking up at her hardened face, "maybe you should stick around and keep an eye out for me. You think you can be my wing mate a little longer today?" Kei's knuckles lost the white death grip they had been holding and her face softened substantially.

"I'll always be your wing mate," Kei said, the tension gone from her voice. She suddenly turned a bright red as if she had done something very embarrassing. "Here we are," she said quickly. She stopped me right before the door and opened it, holding it open with her foot while using her hands to pull me through the door.

The doctor checked my chest and x-rayed it saying that nothing was broken, fractured or bruised other than my skin and my pride. As soon as that had been said I leaped up from my wheelchair yelling, 'It's a miracle.' That got Kei to laugh a little, the doctor too. I thanked him for his services and he gave a mild pain killer. Before I could take it, the Commander came into the small office.

"Oh good, your wing mate, Chopper, said I could find you two here."

"Good afternoon, sir," I said as I weakly raised my arm for a salute.

"At ease Captain. You've earned a rest for today."

"Thank you, sir."

"You two and the rest of your squadron including the rookie pilots you brought are to spend the night here. It's been cleared by Sand Island and we've got rooms all set up for your stay tonight. Here," he said handing me and Kei each a key to a room. "They are ready for your use, so don't be afraid to go there and get some shut eye. That'll be all." We both thanked him on his way out. I quick popped the painkiller and we were on our way out and headed to the mess hall. We were greeted by Chopper and Grimm who lost the worried looks they had been exchanging before I had walked in. The rest of the cadets who we had been escorting also stood up and looked me over. After reassuring everyone I was fine, we all got in line for a desperately needed lunch.

We were all eating when Reindeer squadron came in and got their food. There were eight people total, the four pilots and their CSO's. There was something off about the way they interacted with each other, like they were at odds with some of their squad mates. Maybe that was how normal squadrons were and ours was just... different. Then I spotted the woman who must've been Azarola. It was immediately clear she wanted nothing to do with the rest of her flight, adding to its dis-functionality even more. It seemed her flight suit was too small with the way it seemed to be squeezing against her body. I did a quick check with Kei's to see if it was just a thing with all the women flight suits but Kei's was much more loose. Once I refocused and looked back at Azarola, I noticed she was giving me a predatory stare. I quickly returned my attention to my own table to try and push the woman from my thoughts and vision.

When Kei noticed I had finished my plate, she tapped me on the shoulder. "You ready for that conversation?" she asked. I just gave her a face that said it all. "Okay, okay, I get it," she said with a grin. We excused ourselves from the table and got up to put away our dishes. "Meet me at my room." With that, she took off down the hallway.

"Okay," I called weakly after her, too late for her to hear what I had said. I went to my room to get my flight suit off and shower. I was on my way back to my room from my shower with just a towel offering protection when Azarola called out to me.

"Captain Irving," she called out, pausing for an effect that gave me shivers, "a word?"

"Dammit," I muttered under my breath as I turned around to face her, Kei's words about how she felt that this woman wasn't interested in talking echoed through my mind. Azarola still had her flight suit on but it seemed as if she had gone and prepared herself for this encounter. Apart from her flight suit that flaunted the woman's curves, her hair was long, black and curly, beautiful under almost any other condition except this one. I was able to get a good look at her hazel eyes only to find them piercing my exposed being, hungry for something I wasn't willing to give her. "Um, can it wait a moment, I kinda have to-"

"This will only take a moment," she said with a wicked grin. "You're not from this country, are you?" I raised my eyebrow in response. She continued her maleficent smile. "Men in this country have no modesty. They are ignorant, feeble, and boastful." I had to get out of this situation. There were always stories about these kind of women whispered among guys back during my time at Heierlark. They used men to get ahead, taking advantage of the harsh punishments the military imposed on people who were even accused of sexual harassment.

"Not all of them," I said bringing my thoughts back to the present, thinking of a counter example to stop her. "Just look at Grimm. He's none of those things and he's from Osea." He was from Osea, right? "Even Chopper's not ALL those things ALL the time. And what you said about modesty, I'd really like to get that way before-"

"Your willingness to stand up for your fellow wingmen is... commendable, Captain. But Chopper is just too boastful and Grimm isn't..." She stared into my eyes, causing me to take a couple of steps back and pull my towel tighter. "... Isn't a man. He's just a boy still, too young to understand the desires of a... woman." She began to close the gap between us I had made with my slow backpedal. "But you, you are a true man which can appreciate the fine form and qualities of a woman. You are a man of modesty, a man who is-"

"-going to get changed real fast and fix that modesty thing," I said, interrupting her speech about me. Before she could respond or go much further, I ran as quickly as I dared to my room, shutting the door rather forcefully and locking it. I had escaped the grasp of her claws but not a moment too soon.

"I'll be waiting for you Captain," a husky, sultry voice whispered outside my door. "I always did enjoy a good hunt." My skin crawled as I quickly dressed into some fatigues. I looked around my room and breathed a sigh of relief that there was a window big enough for egress. I sneaked out of the room and made my way to Kei's. I knocked on her door and as soon as the door opened, I got into the room as promptly as possible.

"What the-"

"I encountered Azarola while returning from the head," I said quickly. Kei first gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth, clenching the other and shading crimson red. She then made a heated declaration.

"That woman is going to get dishonorably discharged when I'm done with her," She said with rising volume.

"Whoa there, Nagase, take it easy. She's just looking for some company in the wrong places."

"It's women like her that give women like me a bad name! Do you know how hard it is for women like me to overcome the stigmata she enforces?" she asked yelling at me, making appropriate yet frantic hand gestures to get her point across. "She makes it impossible for people like me to ever have a normal relationship!" I was worried someone was going to hear her frantic ravings.

"Hey, let's just cool down for a moment and take it easy-" I said while looking back at the door before she interrupted me.

"Take it easy?!" she hissed in a whispered rant. "Maybe you're not getting this."

"Kei, I get it," I said back to her, causing her to stop for a second and give me a sideways glance of confusion.

"You do?" she asked with her face starting to flush white. She looked panicked, like someone found out a secret of hers.

"I'm pretty sure," I continued. "You think people are scared of you because of what you could do to them. But it's clear after one look at you; you're nothing like what Azarola is. Azarola and people like her are putting off signals that are meant to draw in weak minds. You have a presence that just scares those kinds of people away." Kei's face regained its color and then some.

"That seems like a fairly self-serving complement," she said with a grin that told me she didn't mean what she was saying. I just waved my hand at her, glad I had calmed her down.

"So, you wanted to get that talk going?" I asked, trying to get her back to the original topic we had planned to meet for.

"Right," she said shaking her head as if to clear it out. "Go ahead and take a seat. I need to grab something real fast." I walked over to a chair at the desk in the room. The layout was virtually identical to mine except reversed. Kei disappeared into her closet for a moment and came back out with a book. It was the same one she had been using the night I had seen her in the mess hall back at Sand Island. When she saw my face of recognition she said, "It's not a diary. But it is probably more important... and personal than one." I looked back at her with surprise in my face.

"You sure you want to share this? I mean, you don't have to if it's that personal." She looked back at me with a neutral expression that was very hard to read. Finally, she smiled and spoke up again.

"Consider it a way of making us even for me finding out about your father before you." She walked to her bed and sat down on it, handing me the book.


	9. -The Scinfaxi-

**The Scinfaxi**

The book was very old looking and had a bright red material for its cover. Despite its old age, it seemed to be in good shape, until I opened it up. Scraps of paper with hand writing all over them and loose pages were strewn about inside the book. I looked back at Kei for an explanation.

"You could say it's a family heirloom," she started. "You could also say it's the only thing I have left of my mother." I looked back at the books inside cover. _A Blue Dove for the Princess_. Kei continued. "That book had been in our family for generations, passed down from mother to daughter. I got it when I was seven. My mom, she was..." she stopped and looked towards the window in the room. "She was Belken," she finally said, releasing a deep breath and looking at me as she pushed out the words. She trained her gaze on me but I had no reaction to give her. I was still trying to process what that meant.

"So, you're half Belken?" I asked, void of any discernible emotion. She just nodded her head with a worried look plastered on her face. I knew from firsthand experience that some Osean's were jerks when it came to people who weren't born in their country. But being born any amount of Belken was a horrible fate if someone found out. I had thought I had it bad when I was in school until one student got picked on and bullied for being Belken. They were able to endure it and it was what drove me to push through all the hate that could come from people like that. I just sat there waiting for Kei to keep telling her story but she just continued to stare at me. After a while she spoke up again.

"Is that all?" she asked. I gave her a confused face.

"What do you mean, 'is that all?'?" I asked her. Now it was her turn to be confused. She opened her mouth like she was about to talk a couple of times but nothing came out. Eventually, she regained the ability to speak.

"So, just to be clear, you know I'm half Belken," she looked at me sideways with a serious case of confusion still evident on her face.

"Yes. And just so I'm clear, I'm one hundred percent Usean," I said. Her confusion was rapidly replaced by frustration that seemed misplaced to me.

"Blaze, I don't think you're getting it, I just-"

"You just told me that you're not pure Osean. Neither am I." Kei had begun to shake her head at the end of my statement.

"But Blaze, I'm-"

"You're Kei Nagase, second Lieutenant of the Osean Air Defense Force. A great fighter pilot and an even better friend. Where you got your blood from is irrelevant to who you are now." She had just looked at me when I had interrupted her again, but had hid her face when I had called her a friend. After a while, she showed her face again. It was a lot redder than I had remembered seeing it a few moments ago.

"So," She started, a sliver of a smile coming to her lips. "Just to be clear here, you don't care where I'm from?" I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I care where you're from," I started, confusion coming back to her face for an instant, "it just doesn't have a bad or good meaning to me. I like Kei the person, so where her genetic material comes from doesn't matter all that much to me."

"Good," she said, the smile coming back to her face and refusing to leave. After that, she just kept looking at me with a curious look in her eye that I couldn't place.

"What about your father?" I asked, trying to bring her back to the rest of the world. She refocused, blinking a couple of times before asking me to repeat myself. "What about your dad?" I asked again. The faint smile on her lips finally departed as she started shifting around on her bed and hiding her face from me again.

"I... well..." She seemed a little distressed. "You know how you're dad was the greatest fighter pilot of the 21st century?" she asked. I just nodded. "Well, I guess you could call mine the best pilot of the 90's." She glanced at me through some of the thin, black wisps of hair separating our gaze.

"Cipher," I muttered. Kei's head made a barely noticeable motion of a nod. I just sat there for moments, thinking. Cipher had been the mysterious mercenary pilot during the Belken War 15 years ago. He had gained a reputation in the war that was unusual for a mercenary. He retained a sense of honor, even though many thought it was misplaced in modern times. I noticed that Kei had tucked her hair behind her ears now and was looking at me dead in the face, trying to read my every thought. We looked at each other a while longer, waiting for the other one of us to make the move. She broke first.

"I wanted to tell you sooner, that day on the beach was going to be it but, I just didn't know how." I nodded my head. She was waiting for me to say something though and I knew she wouldn't stop worrying about what it was going to be until I said it.

"It's fine. Who your dad is still doesn't change who you are." She looked at me bit longer before she nodded her head. "Do you keep in touch?" I asked. She nodded her head in the affirmative but didn't say anything more. "What did you mean by saying that book was the only thing left of your mother?" Her expression remained devoid of the happiness that had left her a few moments ago.

"She died a while ago... health issues." I just nodded my head. She didn't seem too keen on discussing it so I let it go.

"So, I'm not quite sure the Base Commander at Sand Island would be as understanding as I was with the whole Belken thing."

"Ah," she said with a great release of air. "That is thanks to a special deal my dad has with Osea. He came here under the agreement that he wouldn't fly for any country in exchange for a new life. Something pretty similar to what your dad had done I think." She and I were quiet for a while, me mulling over the information I'd just learned, and her waiting anxiously for any question I might have.

"What's with all the paper in the book?" I asked. "I think I recognize the title but I'm pretty sure the book didn't come with all of," I gestured to the leaflets of paper, "this."

"I've used that book so much," Kei started in a contemplative tone. "Its old age coupled with my excessive use has caused pages to fall out. I'm trying to remember their order and what they said. It's the only thing I have left to remind me of my mother. I also tend to store personal notes and stuff in there." We sat in silence a little longer before I remembered the time Kei had acted all formal when I had be promoted.

"I believe you owe me an explanation for the way you acted when you found out I got promoted to Captain," I said. A slight frown came back to her face at the memory and she sat up in her bed leaning against the wall to face me.

"When I was still enlisted, before OTS, I had a friend who it seemed I could share just about anything with. We would always hang out together after shifts and joke around." I nodded to let her know I was listening. "One day, she gets called up to the Base Commanders office for something and we both start freaking out thinking that someone had reported us in for joking around too much. So, she goes and I'm waiting for her to come back and tell me what happened but she never shows up. I'm in the dark for two days before I find out from someone else that she's been promoted." I began to see where the story was going but I nodded for her to continue. "So I go looking for her and find her in the mess hall. I walk up to her and tell her congratulations but she acts like she's never seen me before and asks me why I didn't call her 'Ma'am.' I'm thinking it's some kind of joke so I playfully say 'Congratulations ma'am,' but she doesn't seem to think it's funny. She ends up sending me to the Commander for insubordination. The charges were cleared but I never spoke to her again. I hardly ever spoke to anyone after that, in fact."

"So you thought I would act like your friend?" I asked. She just nodded her head, afraid of speaking and letting too many words come out. "Nagase, friends are more important to me than military protocol any day."

"Yeah," she said with a waver in her voice. "I kind of figured that out." She put on a weak smile and wiped a non-existent tear from her eye. Her face suddenly shifted to confusion. "Why did you let that plane go today?" I turned beat red. I had thought no one had seen that.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"That's the second worst lie you've ever told me," she said with a face void of amusement. I sighed and decided the least I could do is be honest with her, with all the deep, personal stuff she was sharing.

"He was an enemy ace. At least 30 kills," I began. Her mouth widened and eyes narrowed. "The only way I had been able to get him in my sights was by performing a maneuver that caused this bruising," I said pointing at my chest. Her eyes got wider and I could tell she was about to ask her question again so I began again before she could. "I got a couple of rounds in him and he was trailing smoke. I was behind him, ready to take him out but he was just flying straight, not even trying to evade me." Kei had shut her mouth and nodded for me to continue. "I don't like shooting down everyone I see. I do it because I've got a country and my wing mates to protect, but I didn't join the military for the pure purpose of killing people. I let him go because I knew if I fired, he would be dead for sure." Kei sat silently for a moment just looking at me.

"You know," she said finally. "I hate saying it, but Azarola was right about you being a rare pilot."

"I hate it when people say that," I said. "It makes me feel like I have to live up to some kind of expectation."

"Blaze, all you have to do is fly to exceed anyone's expectation of you. And the more you keep talking about how you hate being recognized for your feats just acts as further evidence of your rarity." We were quiet for a while again. I was glad Kei was one of those people who could sit in silence and not feel awkward. I suddenly remembered the woman at Heierlark who had asked us to be careful with the nuggets.

"What was with that Staff Sergeant at Heierlark?" I asked after a moment. Kei had seemed to be in a distant thought and looked at me like she was confused. "The woman at Heierlark who came up to us and told us to be careful with the rookie pilots, what was she all bent out of shape about?"

"Oh," Kei said, recalling the situation I was talking about. She looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. "You really don't know?" I tried to think about what it was about but nothing was coming up. "Blaze, how much experience you have with women?" she asked suddenly. My head suddenly felt constricted as blood filled the vessels in my face.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked defensively.

"In this situation, a lot. And judging by the way you just reacted, I would say very little to none would be the answer."

"Fine," I said. She was being open so I would be to. "I've never really had time for more intimate relations with women," I admitted.

"Never?" an intrigued woman asked.

"This isn't going to get super weird or anything, right? Because if it is, I don't have to know."

"Okay," Kei began with a smile appearing on her face. "Right. So, you know how the military is about relationships and stuff, right?" I nodded my head. It seemed like every month we would be given a lecture about how fraternization was dangerous in a military setting and should be avoided. Lately, I had caught a 'lucky' train with all these deployments and avoiding such meetings. I also thought that an effective squad was a close squad. Thankfully, the squadron I was leading though so too. The meetings for us were just boring and embarrassing. "Well, we both know that just because it isn't allowed doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Do you see where I'm going with this?" I thought some more. Then it started falling into place. They had got really close.

"Oh." I said simply. Kei nodded her head.

"'Oh' is right. See, I knew you weren't clueless." I gave her an un-amused scowl but she just smiled back. We sat in silence again and just relaxed in each other's presence. I glanced at the clock above the door and noticed it was about meal time.

"Hey, you want to grab some dinner?" Kei broke her empty gaze she had been holding and nodded. We got up from our positions and headed out the door of her room. "Thanks," I told her as we began walking towards the mess hall.

"For what?" she asked, turning her head to face me, not understanding where the statement was coming from.

"For finally telling me," I said. She smiled a little and continued to walk just in front of me. We reached the hall at about 1830 and indulged ourselves with as much food as we dared to eat. Not knowing when your next meal will be makes you eat like a bear getting ready for hibernation. We were just about to finish up when it happened.

"There you are Blaze. You are very sneaky using the window like that, but it makes the catch that much more... rewarding." I shot a glance at Kei and saw her tensing up like never before. I spotted a fork within her reach and slowly reached for it, fearing she may try the worse. As Azarola came to sit right next to me, Kei shot her hand at my own taking a firm grip of it. I looked at her with some confusion but her face was trained only on Azarola. I looked back at the woman who had been approaching. She had stopped dead in her tracks and was now having a stare down with Kei. I felt like the chew toy between two pit bulls. After what seemed like minutes, Azarola spoke up again.

"I see now why you two are so effective in the sky. Two souls' entwined as one, not much can get between that. Who would I be to try and break that bond?" She turned in one fluid movement and left the hall without another word. As soon as I was done watching her leave I looked back at Kei to see she still had a stare trained at the entrance and her hand on mine.

"Hey Nagase, I think she is gone now," I whispered to her. She blinked a couple of times before looking down at our hands.

"Oh, sorry about that." She pulled her hand away and quickly placed it in her lap, trying to focus on other things in the room.

"What was that about?" I asked her, trying to figure out what had happened.

"I figured the only way to get her off your case was to make her believe you were already taken," she said, still not looking at me directly, a red flushing coming to her cheeks. "And it worked. So, you're welcome." Azarola's words about two souls were still going through my head.

"Thanks," I said in a distracted voice. Kei finally returned her attention to the food on her plate and began eating again. "What did she mean by-?"

"Oh, you know how people from Sapin get," Kei started not looking up from her food. "They read into stuff too much. Injecting their romance into everything." She stuffed some food in her mouth and chewed it a little too enthusiastically.

"Right," I said lowly, doing my best to ignore the strangeness that seemed to be following me everywhere today. Chopper and Grimm joined us no more than a couple of minutes later, much to our relief. The rest of the night went on without any problems and I went to sleep with a full stomach and a full mind. Despite having so much to think about, I actually slept quite nicely.

The next morning we all got up early and left McNealy Air Base no later than 0630. We arrived at Sand Island and I was never so glad to be back 'home.' I hoped that wouldn't have to sortie for another couple of days. Of course, things never happen the way you want them to. We had been on base for no more than half an hour when we go called into the briefing room for an emergency. Everyone was there, even the new pilots we had just brought. We saluted the Colonel as he walked in but instead of the standard 'at ease,' he gave us a different greeting.

"Agah, you people are like the plague, you know that? The moment you returned to Sand Island, this happens." He reached down to the podium he was behind to initiate the programmed briefing. A voice came over the speakers and the mission area was displayed on a screen. It was Sand Island.

"A large combined force of Yuktobanian vessels and aircraft have been detected advancing in the ocean directly towards Sand Island from the west. Our intelligence has confirmed the presence of amphibious assault ships within the coming fleet. We believe the enemy's goal is to conduct a landing operation on Sand Island and capture this base. Close with the enemy, disrupt landing operations and suppress their naval gunfire directed at our forces ashore." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We seriously had just gotten back from one of the longest deployments I had ever been on and now they had us going back up into the sky. The Colonel pulled me from my depressing thoughts.

"Even if this turns into a ground war, I'm prepared to fight for this island to the very end."

"More like sending everyone out to fight for you," Chopper mumbled under his breath. The Colonel continued.

"As my advance guard, I want you to forget everything else, and concentrate on dealing a lethal blow on the incoming enemy invasion fleet. We'll be deploying everything we've got. Launch every aircraft capable of anti-ship combat, regardless of combat experience." I heard Kei draw in a sharp breath. "Dismissed." We all stood up and saluted the Colonel on his way out. We headed out to our aircraft in relative silence. We were all surprised that the Colonel had ordered the nuggets to go out on a mission as well. They were just as tired as the rest of us and even more inexperienced. We began flying to the AO.

"This is AWACS Thunderhead. All units, listen carefully."

"Ahh, I missed that sweet voice. Say, you get that from your mama's side of the family?" Chopper asked.

"Cut the chatter," Thunderhead responded in a voice that sounded like it belonged to an older brother tired of his younger sibling being immature. At least he wasn't angry. "First enemy wave, bearing 280 degrees. You are cleared to engage on sight." Kei finally spoke up about her problems with the mission.

"It's too risky to bring the nuggets here."

"I'm with you on that," Chopper commented. "You agree, kid?"

"You know it," I replied.

"Seriously. They've got their hands full just keeping their planes in the air." Chopper continued. One of the rookie pilots spoke up.

"If we make it back alive, there's something I want to ask you, if that's all right." Before I could respond to his question, Grimm butted in.

"Hey, what is with that 'if'? We are going to make it back alive. Just fly like this is any other mission."

"This is Sand Island Base Defense! Enemy amphibious force intercepted at the coastline!" There was gunfire in the background of the broadcast.

"Oh, great. Here we go," Chopper complained. "So hey, if the enemy wins here, then what happens to us? Damn, this ain't looking good."

"The coastline is under heavy enemy attack!" yelled the voice on the island. Suddenly, Colonel Perrault came over the radio.

"I know, I know! All units, this is Colonel Perrault at Base Command. Do everything in your power to stop them. If you can't protect this island, what will we tell our great heroes in the sky?!"

"'Great heroes?' What's with him? He's like a completely different man," Grimm commented.

"Don't expect that stuff when we get back. I bet he's got a different script for us," Chopper told the younger pilot.

I finally spotted the first ship. It was a landing ship alright, packed to the brim with helicopters and hovercraft. I lined up one of my 500lb bombs and let it fly streaking to the left as the bomb fell towards the craft.

"This is Edge. Blaze, good effect on the target. Repeat, target destroyed." I swiveled my head around and say the ship listing to the right heavily. We all began taking turns streaking past the enemy landing ships, dropping our bombs on each ship.

"Airborne attack squadron, don't worry about us. We will stand firm and fight to the end!" Perrault announced dramatically over the radio.

"What a tearjerker," Grimm commented.

"Man, if he needs our help, he should just say so. Of course, not that we have the time to help right now," Chopper added. The nuggets weren't doing half bad, there weren't any real airborne threats in the area except a few helicopters that had managed to take off from landing craft before we destroyed them.

"Missile fired from enemy sub!" Kei announced suddenly. I looked at my radar to confirm and sure enough, a small signature moving startlingly fast was headed towards our AO.

"What?!" Grimm said in a panicked voice.

"Get out of there, Grimm! You nuggets, too!" Kei yelled out. We all began to climb.

"Climb! Climb! Come on!" Chopper yelled out.

"You hear me nuggets? You have to climb!" Kei said in frenzy. I could hear some of the rookies starting to panic and see some of the craft waiver in the air.

"Submarine missile launch confirmed!" Thunderhead announced. "Believed to be a burst missile, with multiple warheads that separate in mid-air. Get above 5000 feet and stand-by!" I had already reached the safe zone but multiple nuggets were still below 2000 feet, still too inexperienced to pull off a vertical climb steeper than 40 degrees.

"Wait, we're getting a command override from somewhere," Thunderhead announced. "'Data link to A-Sat Targeting System...' What is this?" The man seemed very confused. "Now it's counting down by itself. Nine, eight, seven..."

"Dammit! They're not going to make it!" Chopper yelled.

"Four, three, two, one..." Suddenly there was a bright blue light followed almost immediately by a high pitched scream that filled the air.

"The sky just lit up!" Grimm shouted.

"Missile vaporized in mid-air!" Thunderhead shouted. I was still trying to process what had just happened when Chopper asked me a question.

"What was that? Did you see that, kid?"

"No, what? Did you see it?" I asked.

"The light! That light! That wasn't a missile!" he exclaimed.

"... Was that the Arkbird?!" Kei asked. Thunderhead jumped in and answered the question for all of us.

"Missile destroyed by a laser beam fired from orbit altitude. It's the Arkbird. We've got the Arkbird! All units, continue engaging the enemy!" I dove back down, not missing a beat.

"This is Blaze to all airborne units. Continue to be alert. Just because we got lucky once doesn't mean it will happen again." We continued to fight the landing ships. After a while we had destroyed all of them and were only left with some destroyers and frigates. I still had four bombs on my wing, all of my sidewinders and had only used a few rounds of cannon fire on stray helicopters. The rookies had used their bombs a little more liberally and were down to either one or two each. Suddenly, an anti-sub plane that had been assisting with the firing of the Arkbird's laser made a devastating announcement.

"Oh, no! They're launching more missiles! Number two, number three, number four..."

"There's too many!" Grimm yelled. We had to climb again and fast. The Arkbird had to recharge in between firing intervals and wouldn't be able to hit all three missiles.

"Come on Arkbird! Use your lasers!" Kei yelled out. "The nuggets are going to get killed!"

"Climb, kids! Go, go, go!" Chopper encouraged. I was already at 6000 feet when I looked back down to see the nuggets still spiraling upwards as fast as they knew how.

"Missile vaporized in mid-air!" Thunderhead announced, but there were still more. "Ten seconds to impact. Eight, seven, six..." There were too many still too low. One pilot tried to lift his nose up more but the plane stalled out on him. "Three, two, one, impact... now!" A bright light engulfed my field of view. I squinted so my eyes wouldn't be blinded by the light. My plane suddenly shook from the shock wave of the explosion. Then the transmissions came in.

"The eject handle's stuck!" one of the pilots hollered.

"Wings damaged! Losing altitude!"

"They're all falling." Grimm said, emotion gone from his voice.

"Dammit..." Chopper said as he watched the heart-wrenching sight. One by one, ten planes that didn't make it fell into the water, none of them with ejections. One plane's pilot ejected and still another had climbed to a safe altitude.

"We can't deal with the enemy fleet like this," Thunderhead said.

"Blue Hound, this is Arkbird." The orbiting space craft began direct communications with the anti-sub plane. "Requesting sonobuoy data link."

"Stand by. We're dropping a new sonobuoy," the plane announced.

"All remaining planes," I announced. "Hold at high altitude until a new attack plan can be formulated. No sense in diving back down there only to be fired at again."

"Copy that Captain," Grimm replied.

"Blue Hound, this is Arkbird. Is that sonobuoy data available yet?"

"Roger, we're sending it now. What are you going to do?"

"Countdown to firing. Five, four, three, two, one..." Another bright beam split the sky for only a moment, but it was long enough for me to be memorized for what seemed to be an eternity.

"The Arkbird shot a laser into the ocean!" the anti-sub plane announced. "Explosion in the water! It damaged the submerged Scinfaxi! Picking up sounds of main ballast blow. The Scinfaxi is surfacing!" The thing was larger than I even imagined it to be. It had to be at least the length of a normal sized runway.

"Wardog, this is Blaze. Drop everything you've got on that thing! Don't hold anything back!"

"Copy that captain," Kei responded. We began diving for the deck with our bombs armed and ready for deployment. But when we reached the sub's engagement zone, the sky began to be filled with cannon fire from anti-aircraft guns. I managed to get three of my four bombs off and on target and Kei was able to drop both of hers. Grimm and Chopper also went Winchester when they completed their run. The anti-aircraft fire halted as soon as their bombs hit target.

"Arkbird firing laser," Thunderhead announced.

"Direct hit! It ripped a massive hole! The sub appears to have lost all locomotion!"

"Blast it out of the water!" Thunderhead said with fervor to spare. I dove down armed with my last bomb. I located the gaping hole the Arkbird's laser had caused and released it 600 feet from target, pulling up with barely enough room to spare. The bomb impacted deep, hitting what must have been the remaining missile stores. The sub began to sink deeper under the ocean before giant shock waves busted through the top of the water, reminding me of footage of underwater nuclear testing. The remaining enemy ships began to turn around, abandoning their attack of the island. We formed up to head back to the island with only one rookie who had made it through the gauntlet. We started to get an in-flight debriefing.

"The Arkbird was successfully employed over the forward edge of the battle area. The enemy amphibious force attacking Sand Island was repelled and their invasion plan halted. The underwater carrier Scinfaxi, a lethal enemy threat, was engaged and destroyed by the superior fire-power of the Arkbird. Having lost the support of the Scinfaxi, the remaining Yuktobanian forces retreated.

Furthermore, we are requesting reinforcements from Central Command to replace our squadron members lost in combat."

"Ugh," Kei said once we had finished reading the message.

"What's wrong?" Grimm asked.

"We aren't even back yet and they're asking for more rookies to sacrifice for this stupid war." I agreed with Kei. What was the point of this war anyways?


	10. -Stars, Sand, and Cosmic Glue-

**Stars, Sand, and Cosmic Glue**

The month drew on with everyone on high alert. We were sitting on pins and needles after the enemy had come so close to invading sovereign Osean territory. But ten days went by without any action from the enemy. Then another five. We were called down from high alert for the first time since the start of the war. Our squadron took advantage of it in the best way we knew how. Sleep. On one particularly drowsy afternoon, a knock came to my door just as I was getting ready to head to lunch. When I answered it, Chopper gave me a sleepy hello with a yawn mixed in with it. Without even asking, he brushed past me into my room and flopped onto my bed.

"Kid, I've got to talk with you. There are some things I just want to discuss. You know, while we have the time. Before we are called off to save the world. Again. You have a moment?" I wasn't sure I could say no after an introduction like that. I went to my desk and sat in my favorite piece of furniture, the swivel chair.

"What you want to talk about, Chopper?" I asked. Chopper sighed and sprawled out on my bed before squirming back into an upright position.

"Did you know I was married?" My mind took a moment to register what he said before I came up with a response.

"Say that again?" I asked.

"That's right. I've got a wife back home. A daughter too. Little devil is the only thing I think about during times like this. You know, when there's nothing to do and you want something to do but, well, there's just nothing to do. You know?" I stared at him blankly but he must've not caught my confusion. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I'm glad you're leading us. And actually leading us at that, unlike that Rudolph. Man, what a stupid call-sign!"

"What was wrong with the squadron leader for Reindeer?" I knew the guy had come off as a little show-boat-ish when we were down at McNealy with them but I figured that was just because we were with him.

"I was talking with Blitzen and Vixen after the mission. They both got families too. They were pretty cool dudes. Hope I get to hang out with them some more. Maybe after this war. Anyways, they said that all the guy cares about is kissing up to his superiors and elevating his squadron and himself whenever he can. I'm just glad you don't have that kind of problem." He stopped talking for a bit and looked at me for a bit before a smile came creeping onto his face. "I noticed that 'Dancer' took quite the liking towards you," he started with a malicious grin creeping onto his face.

"Oh, yeah, well, nothing happened between us so you don't have to worry about that. She sure tried, but we took care of her." Chopper's grin got a little wider.

"Who's this 'we,' you're referring to?" he said, a devilish grin breaking any neutrality his face had before.

"Second Lieutenant Nagase and I," I said cautiously, not getting where Chopper was trying to take this. "We hung out most of the rest of the time that day after I had been bruised." This was starting to get a little... weird.

"I'll bet Nagase didn't like First Lieutenant Azarola all too much. Wonder why that is?" he said with the grin still on his face.

"She said it was because women like Azarola made women like her look bad." I said with definitiveness.

"Huh," Chopper said like he didn't believe what I had said. I knew trying to explain anything further or even speak about the subject would just cause any ideas fermenting in his head to compost faster. So I decided to change the subject.

"Tell me about your family," I said. The stupid grin on Choppers face subsided as he resumed his normal line of thinking.

"My wife's name is Raenay. But I call her Ray all the time. She hates it. Says she thinks it sounds like I'm talking to some truck driver. Kid's Vicki. Raenay and I were high school sweet hearts. I tell ya, neither one of my parents thought it would work out, but a child sure does make you put things into perspective. We got married when Raenay had a bump the size of my head on her belly. But we don't regret a thing. I think I had told you I got transferred here. I used to be on a base right next to them. Went home every night to a wife who doted on me and a child who thought I was a super hero, flying everywhere. I think I was sadder than they were when they put me out here." He was quiet for a moment as he thought about his situation. "I call them every chance I get. These past few days have been real nice for that." He looked out the window into the bright blue sky that had not a cloud in it.

"Do you still talk to your parents?" I asked.

"Almost as much as my wife, though, they are the ones calling me. They might not have approved of the way me and Raenay were married, but they support us just the same. In fact, Ray and Vicki are living with them right now." He looked back out the window and returned to his thinking. It was something I hardly ever saw the man do publicly.

"You know," he started after a while. "I probably should say thanks."

"Chopper, you don't have to thank me for anything," I started, but before I could continue he jumped in again.

"Kid, shut-up and take a complement for once." He gave me a flat look that told me to be quiet. "You have gotten me back from several battles now. Some of them I was pretty close to being a goner in if you hadn't shown up to save me. I want you to know that, whatever happens, you're family to me." His face was uncharacteristically serious. He stood up from my bed, patted my shoulder and said, "Thanks, kid. You're the reason my family sleeps at night." Without another word, he walked out of my room leaving me to think about the lives I was touching. I had begun this war thinking that the only person I could affect was me, but lately, people all around me were telling me about how Wardog is something bigger now. How I'm something bigger. I got up and went to a later lunch than normal.

The next day was another quiet one. I had just finished working out in the bases gym and decided to cool off in the water. Despite the season being autumn, the water temperature was still in the 70's. I changed into some swimming trunks and grabbed a towel. I walked outside into the sun and enjoyed the warm breeze as it just faintly touched my bare skin. I walked towards the shore and laid out my towel. Before I jumped in, I decided I would take a moment to bask in the sun's rays. The birds were calling in the background and the ocean water crashing on the coastal sand put me to sleep faster than any sedative I knew about.

**.oOo.**

The crackling fire occasionally threw up glowing embers that danced like a multitude of burning fairies. The chirping of crickets in the background filled in the silence the fire had between its bursts. The sky was filled with so many stars that it didn't even look dark on this cloudless night. I began thinking about my significance in a universe that was this big. Would anything I do amount to something?

"What are you thinking about, Caden?" Mrs. Elsworth asked, her friendly voice breaking the long stretch of silence. She was a family friend of my parents who were camping with us this week up near the outskirts of Hollister, a small town that was north of our own, Shubrick.

"Nothing," I replied. It was often the answer I gave when what I was thinking about couldn't be summarized into another single word.

"Oh, come on Caden," Whitney said playfully. She was one of a handful of friends I had made at school when I came to Osea. She and her sister Kim had decided to come up with their parents. Well, at least Whitney had. Kim disliked the outdoors.

"Yeah, Caden," Kim said grumpily. Correction. She hated the outdoors. Being as isolated as we were was a nightmare to her. "Tell us about your keen insights." Her dad gave her a stink eye but her taunt had done the trick at getting me to talk.

"I was thinking about how we are so small compared to everything else in this universe and how anything I do won't have an impact on it." The silence from Kim that followed was satisfying. Eventually, my dad spoke up.

"Caden, have you learned about the Jilachi desert over in Yuktobania yet?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "It's the largest desert on earth. What about it?"

"Suppose you visited the desert. Let's say you're standing right on the edge of it. If you took a pair of tweezers and picked up a single grain of sand and moved it just a little bit, just a nudge, what do you think you would have accomplished?" I thought for a moment. I knew this was going somewhere but my dad could go on these tangents sometimes...

"I would have changed the position of a piece of sand," I finally said.

"And where was this piece of sand again?" he asked with a confused face like he genuinely had no idea.

"In the Jilachi desert," I replied. I knew he was about to reveal his point.

"So, you changed the Jilachi desert, one of the largest deserts of earth, just by moving a grain of sand. Just one piece." How did he think of this stuff? "Caden, each one of us changes the course of history every day. We are all important and we all make an impact. That is why it's important for us to make the right choices when they come to us." I looked back up into the sky. I still felt small, but I didn't feel quite as inadequate. I looked back over at my dad to see my mom using his shoulder as a head rest, whispering things that were making him smile with contentment. We sat at the fire for a bit longer, watching the remaining fire wood break down into ash. Kim was the first to go off to bed, with none of us urging her to stay. Mrs. Elsworth followed soon after and then my mom and dad. Before they left, my father told me I would be in charge of putting out the remaining coals with the water bucket near the fire pit. When it was just Mr. Elsworth, Whitney and I at the fire, Mr. Elsworth spoke up.

"Hey, Caden? Have you ever heard of the Demon of Razgriz?" I thought for a moment. The name was unfamiliar to me.

"Can't say I have," I replied.

"What?!" Whitney exclaimed surprised. "Everyone's heard of Razgriz!"

"Well," Mr. Elsworth began, speaking to his daughter, "maybe everyone in our corner of the earth. But there are other cultures out there..."

"Oh. Right. Sorry Caden," she said. She bowed her head in an attempt to hide the color coming to her face in the glow of the fire. She was one of the few people at school who could seem to forget where I came from, which was probably the reason we were friends.

"It's fine, Whiney," I told her.

"Anyways," Mr. Elsworth began, "the legend of the Demon of Razgriz is about a being that comes along whenever there is trouble in the land. When men fight men and turn on each other, she comes and reins death on them all, killing herself in the process." He fell silent for a moment, looking into the fire. Mr. Elsworth had been a ground solider during the Belken war. He didn't talk about it much and my dad had told me it was because he was in one of the advance convoys that were near the nuclear blasts. He lifted his head again, taking a deep breath before continuing. "But after a period of time, the demon awakens, this time, as a great hero, salvaging the land it destroyed before, making way for a new age of prosperity."

Whitney and I were silent for a moment, filling the night air with thoughts and reflections. Mr. Elsworth broke the silence again as he stood up from his chair and clapped his hands, startling me the slightest bit.

"You two going to be good if I go back inside?" he asked with raised eye brows.

"Yes sir," I said. Whitney nodded her agreement. He smiled and nodded as he walked off towards the camper he and his family was staying in. Whitney and I stayed up a little while longer after that, talking about our plans for college and life in general. After we had exhausted our conversation, I picked up the bucket with the water and poured the liquid over the coals, making a giant cloud of steam that hissed and bubbled for a few moments. Whitney and I said our good nights and went off to sleep.

**.oOo.**

Slowly, my eyes fluttered open to a dimming sky above me. I stood up and looked back at the water I had planned on swimming in. The sun that had awoken me was telling me it was just about time for dinner and my grumbling abdomen was confirming the celestial object.

I huffed a breath of discontentment at a day wasted sleeping again and grabbed my towel to head inside. When I looked up, however, I saw a large group of people coming my way clothed in the same manner I was. I spotted Chopper carrying a small grill with an airman right behind him with a bag of charcoal. People were carrying some lounging chairs, some had food and refreshments, and a few others had other cookout essentials. I ran towards Grimm who was toting a large cooler behind him.

"Good evening sir," he said, switching hands to salute me.

"You're not in uniform, Grimm. You don't salute out of uniform." He was flustered for a moment while he processed what I had just told him. "What am I saying," I continued, pulling his attention back to me. "You don't have to salute me. Period. You can loosen up around me, okay?"

"Um, yes sir," he said with a confused face.

"Yeah," I said slightly under my breath. "We'll work on that." The confused look on Grimm's face intensified for a moment. "What's going on here?" I asked him finally. The lost face was replaced by a smile that was more suiting of the young man.

"We're having a cook-out today. Major Hamilton convinced Colonel Perrault to let us have a little fun since we've been on assignments left and right." Everyone began placing their items down in the sand about 50 feet from the water line.

"Hey, Kid!" Chopper yelled over to me. "You know anything about grillin'?" I decided to humor Chopper and let him have a little fun.

"What's that?" I asked. Everyone within earshot started busting up laughing. Chopper just motioned for me to join him with his burger flipper in hand. Someone had brought a stereo and tuned us in to a good rock n' roll station. As I walked over to Chopper, I noticed a large black dog walking among the people. "Whoa," I said when I noticed it. "When did we get a dog on base?" I asked Chopper who was pouring some of the coals into the grill.

"You didn't know?" he asked in surprise. "That's Kirk. He's my," he looked around before leaning in and whispering, "'service' dog." He pulled back his head with a large grin on his face caused by the fact he could break the rules by following them. "He's here for my 'emotional well-being'," he continued as he reached for the lighter on a plastic folding table someone had set up.

"I see," I said, beginning to share his grin. One of the people in the crowd threw a Frisbee off into the water and Kirk went right in after it without hesitation. Chopper and I took shifts on the grill as the night continued. My shifts started getting longer as Chopper began to open more beers. The sun was just beginning to set when I served myself and Chopper. We both took a seat in some chairs around a fire pit someone had dug out on the beach.

"So Kid, how's life," Chopper asked as he popped open the cap of his sixth beer.

"It's good," I said as I looked out on the golden water that was rippling around some of the enlisted men and women as they played some game with a volleyball. We were silent for a while longer as we stared out at the falling sun.

"Did I ever tell you I was married?" Chopper asked lazily, his speech slightly slurred. I looked back at him and he had a dead serious face trained at me.

"I believe you mentioned it," I said. He closed his eyes and nodded his head, turning it back towards the sun and ocean. Without opening his eyes he posed his next question.

"Did I ever tell you why it was the best decision of my life?" he asked, raising his brown eyebrows slightly.

"I don't think you did," I said, slightly intrigued. A broad grin touched his face revealing a white set of teeth.

"Love is like cosmic glue, Kid," Chopper said as he flopped his head back towards me. "It holds everything together. Did you know that?" Chopper asked with a face that told me I had better answer him else he would just ask the question again. I decided to let him keep on going for now.

"I didn't know that Chopper. Thanks for sharing."

"No problem, Kid. You know, I bet you could use some of that cosmic glue." I looked back over to him and he had his mouth over the beer bottle like it was a pacifier.

"What makes you say that?" I asked him, genuinely interested in what reason his impaired mind had come up with.

"Everyone needs something to fight for, Kid. Otherwise, you lose yourself in the violence. You need a cause. And flying can't be the only one." He put the beer bottle on his lap and took a deep breath. With that, Chopper closed his eyes with his moth still hanging open and fell asleep.

"He looks like he is out of it," a familiar voice said from behind me. A split second later, Genette came up on my right and pulled a chair beside mine. "How are you doing?" he asked as he pulled a towel over his shoulders tighter around him.

"Fine," I said as I looked back towards the sunset. It would only be a few more seconds before the tip of the sun would disappear below the water. "Hey, did you know Chopper was married?"

"Say what?" he asked with an amused and interested tone in his voice.

"Yeah, Chopper told me he was married. Twice, in fact."

"Chopper's been married twice?" he asked in rightful disbelief as he misunderstood what I had meant.

"Oh, no. I meant he's told me he has been married two times." Genette still had a confused look with a slight smile that was illuminated more by the fire at our feet than the sun. "He's told me twice," I said, finally thinking of a way to say it correctly.

"Oh. That makes more sense." He then wrinkled his face like he was still surprised, "Still..." The both of us stared at our drunken friend snoring in happy contentment, hoping that it would stay this way for a good long time before we had to come back to a reality that included war. The night began to get darker as the remaining light from the sun faded and the burning fire became the only source of illumination for the beach. Chopper began to stir a little causing the half empty bottle that had been in his lap to spill on him waking him up in a manner that he didn't seem to find to pleasing.

"What the-?" he yelled as he stood up suddenly. He patted down the wet spot on the front of his shirt with his hand and brought it up to his face to smell. Upon confirming it was beer he looked down to me and Genette and then back towards the base. "I'm going to call it a night," he said as he picked up the beer bottle he had spilled and threw it in a trash bag. He began to stagger back towards the base in a manner that hid that he was drunk from no one.

"I'd better help him make it back to our room," Genette said getting up. "I'll talk to you latter Captain Irving." With that, he ran off towards his wingman and friend and helped steady him as they walked together towards the base. As they disappeared into the night, I turned my head back around and stared into the dancing flames of the fire. Only a few other people were still out, most had packed up the supplies they had brought out and called it a night. Most of them had jobs they did whether or not we flew.

As more and more people headed in I began to get ready to put the fire out. When the last couple of people headed in, I kicked the sand in on the fire and stepped away from the ensuing smoke. That was when I noticed how brightly the sky was lit tonight. The moon was at its half phase just above the horizon and the band of stars that was our galaxy shined in an arc crossing the sky. I thought back on that night I had spent camping. About Razgriz and her coming upon men who killed each other. About how one person can change the world, the course of history. I picked up the chair I had been using and headed back towards base. On my way in, I noticed that the corner in the mess hall me and Kei usually ate at was lit up.

I snuck my head into the large room and saw Kei sitting at the table with her red book in her lap. She had a pen in her hand with its end in her mouth and she was staring out the window where the grill out had been. Had she stayed in here the whole time? I thought about walking up to her and talking a little bit, but remembered what she had said about her book. It was private to her and she was most likely in a mood that didn't involve other people. But I stayed there leaning on the door frame, somehow unable to move.

It must've been a while before she turned around and saw me. We looked at each other for a moment, both of our faces expressionless. She finally removed the pen from her mouth and waved with the hand she hadn't been using, a small smile forming on her lips and in her eyes. I returned the smile and wave before I removed myself from the frame of the door and left to go to my room. My stomach was filled with a weird yet good feeling and my head was filled with the words of a drunk, yet somehow, wise sounding Chopper.

_'You know, I bet you could use some of that cosmic glue... Everyone needs something to fight for, Kid.'_


	11. -Mr Cargo-

**Mr. Cargo**

It was another couple of days before the Colonel called us in for a briefing.

"First of all, I guess I should congratulate you all, exception being Captain Irving, on being promoted to First Lieutenant. Command has decided that your bravery and leadership were instrumental in keeping this base safe and therefore feel it right to promote you. That said, since we thwarted their invasion, we haven't seen any major offensive operation by the enemy for weeks. Almost like we are at peace again eh people? Anyway, let's start the briefing." He pressed the button on his podium and the room darkened as the projector hummed to life.

"Yuktobanian combat operations have been dormant since their failed large scale invasion and the loss of their underwater carrier Scinfaxi. However, there is still concern of a possible infiltration by small scale forces from the ground and the air. You will split into flights of two and carry out patrols in the area from Akerson Hill to the northern coast line. The airspace above the grain fields extending around the Akerson hill area is covered by our Osean AA system. The system automatically fires missiles at any hostile aircraft it detects. Patrol the northern coast line of Akerson Hill which is out of our AA system's range." The briefing had concluded and we were dismissed to head off to get ready for the mission, which for me, meant a shower.

We were suited up for the mission and in the air heading towards Akerson by 1100. Once we were in the area of operations at 1150, I spoke to the flight.

"Alright Wardog, lets split up into our elements. Chopper, you and Archer go south and patrol over Crevalle for a while. Kei and I will cover the shore line."

"You got it, Kid." His F-16 and Grimm's peeled off to the right as Kei and I continued to head north. We had been patrolling for a while when Chopper came back over the radio, no doubt in an effort to get a conversation going to break the silence that had prevailed for most of the mission.

"That stupid geezer Base Commander just won't give us a break, will he?" Chopper's words were pretty bold with an opening statement like that.

"He's relying on us, First Lieutenant Chopper. Hey, congratulations on your promotion, by the way," Grimm said to him. That was right; I hadn't even said anything to anyone in our flight about being promoted. I'd have to ask Kei how she felt when we got back.

"That's weird," Chopper started. My heart rate elevated slightly thinking he had spotted an enemy formation or something else along those lines. "I don't feel any better..." he finished making me want to punch something non-critical in my cockpit.

"Hey, you two. What's your current position?" Kei asked them with a slight laugh in her voice. At least she was finding this somewhat amusing.

"300 miles south of you," Chopper informed her.

"Roger," She responded. We were quiet for a while longer when my radio suddenly picked up a weak transmission.

"... damaged, but the damage is light." I fiddled with my radio and cleaned up the signal. Apparently Kei had heard it to and addressed the speaker.

"Transmitting aircraft, state your assignment and current status."

"Oh, finally, a response..." a relieved voice said. "This is the Osean Air Force transport plane Mother Goose One." I froze for a moment. Usually, transports had very long and complicated alpha-numerical designations for their flights. The only time something was designated with a one was when- "We're flying to the neutral country of North Point. We have the transmitter set to minimum power. Please come in closer so we can hear." I glanced out of my canopy to Kei who was only a couple of yards away from my plane. She looked at me from across the sky and nodded. We pushed towards the large C-5 Galaxy and waited for the pilot to speak again.

"Ah, I think this is you on our radar. Can you see us?" I found the question a little silly but responded none the less.

"Yes. This is the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron Wardog. I'm the flight lead, call-sign Blaze. What can we do for you Mother Goose One?"

"We'd like you to guide us to a safe passage corridor through the AA defenses. We're on a top secret mission and I'm not transmitting a valid friendly ID signal to the ground-based automatic defense systems. As a result, a friendly surface-to-air missile was mistakenly fired at us. We narrowly avoided a direct hit, but our radar system was destroyed, and we can't fly a safe path through the AA system."

"This is AWACS Thunderhead. I've checked out the story, these guys are the real deal. Lead them to safety Blaze."

"Copy that," I responded. I began to pull up in front of the transport. I hope this guy had a sharp eye; this Falcon was puny compared to the Galaxy.

"... Uhh, the air defense command just received multiple radar hits on an enemy formation closing on your position," Chopper informed us. "First bad guys we've seen crossing the pond for a while. Warning alarms are going off like mad, but we're the only ones near enough to intercept 'em in time."

"Understood. You two come and join us as quickly as you can. We will need your support if we have to guide this transport as well," I said. There were a few moments of silence as we all began to get ready for the developing situation. Suddenly, new voices came over my radio.

"Okay, I've got him on my radar."

"Just like the intelligence said."

"The radio's picking up the enemy's voice!" Grimm said. When I had adjusted it to hear the transport, it must've changed to a frequency the enemy fighters were using as well.

"These guys sound as beautiful as Thunderhead. Sweet as a rose, I tell ya." Chopper said. I could hear the roar of his planes engine in the background of his transmission. He was hauling to get here as quickly as he could. The enemy began speaking again.

"Don't let up just because it's a transport plane."

"If we take out this guy, they won't just give us a medal... they'll build a statue in our honor."

"This cargo's certainly worth that much."

"What are these guys talking about?" Kei asked between the enemy's chatter. The Captain of the cargo plane came back over the radio.

"Don't worry about that. We need your escort. We're completely defenseless," the pilot of the transport said. This was starting to get out of hand.

"Wardog, listen up," I told my squad. "We protect the transport no matter what, understood?"

"Yes Sir," all three pilots answered at once. I began to maneuver around the AA radar coverage, being sure to make my turns as wide as possible for the transport. We were just breaking through the coverage when my radar finally picked up the enemies twenty miles out.

"This is Mother Goose One. We've successfully navigated through the AA system. Thank you. However, I'd like to ask for your continued escort."

"You've got it," I told the captain.

"Enemy spotted on radar. Coming head-on." Kei announced. After a brief pause she spoke up again. "Chopper team has arrived."

"Hey, Kid. We're under your command now," Chopper said as he and grim formed up with me and Kei.

"Mother Goose One, we'll take care of the enemy fighters. Please separate at maximum speed," Kei said to the pilot of the transport.

"Please, I'm counting on you," the pilot said. We throttled towards the approaching aircraft, determined not to let them have a shot at the transport. Kei suddenly spoke up again.

"Mother Goose One, please keep your current vector." I checked my radar and noticed the plane was changing course as well.

"Roger... Roger! Agh, dammit!" Alarms were going off in the background of his transmission.

"Your speed's decreasing. What's the matter?" Kei asked.

"Mechanical trouble. I'm losing thrust on engine one," he replied. The enemy spoke up again.

"Hey, I see escort fighters."

"I thought there weren't going to be any escorts!" another shouted. This was starting to get hectic fast.

"Hey, hey, get back in your seat. Don't approach the... hey! Hey, what're you doing?!" Suddenly there was a gunshot over the radio followed by a moan right after.

"Hey!" Chopper yelled. "The transport! It's rolling!" Yet another new voice came over the radio. One that was familiar yet foreign.

"Uh, this is transport plane... uh... Mother Goose One. The Captain's been shot."

"What?" Chopper asked franticly. We were at engaging distance of the enemy fighters now. They were a couple of high speed MiG-25's. They broke off course once we began to pursue them, switching directions as quickly as their lumbering planes would allow. The man on the transport began speaking again.

"There was a spy in the crew. Uh-oh, two of the engines have shut down." Chopper grunted as he pulled a high-G turn.

"Hey!" he yelled once he had leveled out. "What kinda cargo you got in there? Is it something dangerous?" There was silence as we continued to dogfight with the enemy aircraft. I got behind one of the planes and was amazed by the two large engines I was staring at. I opened fire with my gun but the pilot was too quick with the stick for me to get a good line. I pulled back a little and waited for a good missile tone. The enemy realized what I was doing too late and ejected even before I could fire off the missile. I engaged a different bandit as the plane fell towards the ground. "Hey! You there?" Chopper asked again.

"The Captain's dead and the Co-pilot was wounded by a stray bullet. Tommy's holding the stick now. But he's just a secretary... he's never piloted a plane before." I was turning with another enemy aircraft. To his credit, he was pulling some impressive moves in the dated aircraft he was using but when it came down to it, he was in a plane that wasn't meant for turning. I pointed my nose at the center of his airplane and opened fire, pelting the aluminum with metal slugs that tore through the plane like soft cheese. The plane blew up in a fireball that sent shrapnel everywhere. Some pieces struck my plane, scratching the canopy and one piece even made a small hole in my left wing.

"Who are you then?" Chopper asked as he managed to fire a missile off at an enemy plane that promptly blew to pieces. There were only three more enemy fighters left now.

"I... I guess you would call me... the cargo on this plane. Could you tell me how to control this thing? I'll relay everything to Tommy."

"Lower your altitude," Kei spoke firmly. "Prepare for an emergency landing. Put your flaps down. That'll lower your airspeed. Can you find your flap lever?" She asked. She sounded like she could have been a flight instructor. I saw one of the remaining planes pull out of a turn and adjust their course towards Kei who was beginning to fly back towards the transport. I applied full after-burner to catch up to the ridiculously fast plane and got into position for a missile shot. Once I had tone, I let the sidewinder fly off the rail on my right wing. The missile was already half-way to its target before the enemy noticed and by then, it was too late, the plane disintegrated into pieces as the front erupted in flames from the crew ejecting.

"Thanks, Blaze," Kei said when she noticed the fireball behind her.

"No problem," I said as I turned back towards Grimm and Chopper.

"Flap lever... is that it? No, that one, Tommy. Pull that one," the man who called himself cargo said.

The remaining two planes began to head in an opposite direction.

"We can't go on!" one announced.

"Let's pull out," the other one said dejectedly.

"Are you still there, Ma'am? With the lovely voice? Uh, Miss..." the man on the radio called out. Up until this point, I had held the man with relatively high regard. He had managed to take control of a desperate situation and was starting to turn it around. But once he had said the Kei had a lovely voice, my opinion of him dropped thirty points. While it was undeniable that Kei had a very pleasing voice, to say so during circumstances such as these was... uncalled for. My face began to burn with just a hint of... something.

"First Lieutenant Kei Nagase... Sir," she responded in a somewhat bashful voice.

"Ahh, and a lovely name as well." The nerve! He was flirting during a dangerous mission! I checked my life support systems to see if the AC in my cockpit was still working. It was getting awfully hot in my plane.

"And I'm Chopper!" That's right Chopper. You tell the world. Put a stop to this man's blatant misuse of a dire situation to impress a woman.

"That's a good name, too." You bet it is, pig.

"I like you, man." Okay Chopper. Let's not jump to hasty statements such as those. The man's voice returned to a more professional demeanor as he updated us on what was going on.

"Tommy's going to try and land now. He's doing his best, but he's never done this before. I... I don't know if we'll make it, so I just want to thank you before we go." I would have to have... Words with this man if I ever got to meet him. Many... Words. Wait. What was wrong with me? This was most likely the president. Why was I getting like this? He was just trying to lighten the mood, right? That's all it was. I was letting my emotions get in the way of what was important. But, what exactly were my emotions?

"You'll be okay!" Grimm told the man on the radio. I realized I had been completely quiet to the man.

"Yes, you'll do fine," I added. We circled the aircraft as it slowly descended on to the ground. I held my breath as the plane touched the ground sending a huge cloud of dirt into the wake behind it. It slowly came to a stop at which point Kei came back over the radio.

"Mother Goose One, landing confirmed. Are you all right, Mr. Cargo?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. That was a pretty smooth ride, actually." I brought my plane closer to the ground to see how the plane had held up structurally. It seemed to be okay. Kei spoke up again.

"Mr. Cargo, I've got a question I'd like to ask you."

"What is it?" the man replied. There was a temporary pause and a large draw of breath before Kei continued.

"The bird of peace... did you really have to use that beautiful white bird for this war? Do you understand what I'm saying?" She was referring to the Arkbird. I knew that for her, the spacecraft meant a lot more than just the weapons platform it was being used as now. I wondered if it had been her beacon of hope that something like what had happened in Belka would never happen again.

"Yeah," The man replied distantly.

"I wanted to see your... your bridge of peace span into outer space," Kei finished.

"It's still possible. Thanks to the bird, we're on even terms now. I'm trying to get to North Point because I believe we have a chance," the man continued.

"To hold talks in neutral territory," Kei said for him.

"Right. Communication is vital."

"So, I can still believe in you then? I don't want to see any more young men or women lose their lives."

"Me neither," the man said. Chopper suddenly came over the radio ruining the moment somewhat.

"Uh-oh, I'm out of fuel." Another new voice came over the radio.

"This is the Osean Air Force 8492nd Squadron. We observed the emergency landing on our radar. Can you see us?" I checked my radar and sure enough, a flight of about seven aircraft were on the edge of my scope. "You can leave the rest to us. We'll provide support until the transport plane's crew is rescued."

"Roger, 8492nd. Take care of them for us," Kei said as she and I pulled up to a higher altitude.

"Sure thing," the leader replied. Our flight flew off to the nearby city of Reton to land and refuel before we got back to Sand Island. Once we had landed, we received an update on our planes computer monitors.

_'We received a sit-rep from Central Command. The crew on board the transport plane you encountered during your patrol has been rescued by the 8492nd squadron. That is currently all the information we have.'_

I glanced over at Kei's plane, she had the information too. She turned over towards my plane and nodded her head. We both began to feel like the end of this war was in sight now that the president would try and have some kind of peace talk. When I was back at base, Pop's gave me a stink eye when he saw my craft with the shrapnel wounds it had received.

"Blaze, what happened to your plane?" he asked calmly, yet in a slightly threatening manner.

"Pop's," I began, "I knew that if you didn't have any work to do, you would go crazy with all your free-time. Consider it a gift." He just chuckled a little and began to walk towards some of the other mechanics who were standing around. Just then I felt an exhausting wave come over me. Kei glanced over at me as she leaped down from her plane.

"You doing okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, just tired," I replied, stifling a yawn.

"Are you tired of anything in particular," she asked as we walked out of the hanger. I shook my head but after another moment of walking, I came up with a better answer.

"I'm tired of this war. I'm tired of having to be a part in it." Kei just nodded her head as we kept walking along to the entrance to the base. We joined Chopper and Grim in the Mess Hall and we all had a late afternoon lunch. There wasn't too much talk between our spoonfuls of soup, but that was just fine with us. We all enjoyed just being around each other and not having to be in our planes to do it.

We were all waiting around for the next few days to see if any word would come on the news about an agreement that had been reached between the two counties to end the hostilities between us and Yuktobania. But after three days and no word about any such talks, we began to wonder what had happened. And then we saw a different kind of news.

"The Arkbird..." Kei whispered one day while we were all in the lounge around the TV. I was reading another article Genette had written on a previous assignment when I looked up at the picture on the large display. What I saw glued me to the spot. The large spacecraft was on the television with a wake of derbies behind it. I reached for the remote on the table to turn up the volume, as Kei still hadn't moved since the image had come on screen.

"- government has called this act a devastating loss in tactical advantage. Again for those of you just joining us, we have some troubling news. The Arkbird has been sabotaged. As of right now, the only details we have are that the power generator for the recently installed laser cannon have been destroyed and that any military application the spacecraft had before is now lost. We now turn to our Oured correspondent-"

"This isn't good," Kei muttered at last. I looked at her slightly confused.

"I thought you were against arming the Arkbird," I said. She pulled her eyes from the TV and faced me before she continued her thoughts.

"That spacecraft was the only thing the president could use if the Yuktobanian's wouldn't play nice. Now they hold all the power again. Why would they come to peace talks now? They weren't interested in it before the war and now that we just lost the only thing that was holding them back, why would they be interested in it now?" I thought about the situation we were in now. Kei was right. This war had just taken a turn for the longer duration. I didn't feel like doing much of anything for the rest of the day and just walked around the halls absently. I didn't even make it to dinner. I just stumbled into my room at 2100 and fell asleep as the weariness of the day struck me down.

When I woke up the next day, I decided I would go for a walk around the base. As I approached the hangars where I knew I would find Pop's, I heard a lot more noise than usual coming from the enclosed shelters. When I stepped inside, I found out it was because of the ground crew tuning two A-10's. As I progressed further into the room, Pop's took notice of my presence and walked over to me.

"We just got them today," he began.

"Why," I asked. "I was starting to get used to the falcons." Pops gave me a nod of understanding. As much as a new plane was cool and, well new, it took a while to get used to it and understand how to maneuver it in the most effective way.

"High command is getting ready in invade Yuktobania. The Colonel's going to brief you today, but it'll be a ground support mission. These Warthogs will do nicely against any ground threats the enemy will throw at you." I nodded in understanding. The A-10 Warthog had an impressive record of survivability and durability. Mr. Elsworth had once talked about a time when his company had received air support from an A-10 and when it had flown into the area, half of the enemies they were fighting surrendered without the plane having to fire even a shot. The fear factor of the plane was not without reason. The gigantic gun sticking out of the front accounted for 16% of the total weight of the aircraft.

"Are the other two planes being worked on as well?" I asked. Pops gave me a sheepish grin. "What?"

"Only you and Chopper are going to be flying the A-10s. Kei and Grimm..." he trailed off. "How about I show you?" he said as he put an arm over my shoulder and steered me off towards the other hangars. As we walked across the tarmac to the other enclosure, I realized just how hungry I was when my stomach growled. "Sounds like someone's a little hungry," Pop's said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, just a bit," I said as we entered the building. Inside were two aircraft that made me envious of my two squad mates. The two F-18C's had an orange tint in the morning's light that made them looked primed and ready for combat. Pop's spoke up again.

"These two planes will provide top cover for you and Chopper. Hope they are sufficient enough for you."

"I'm not the one who's flying them," I said as I turned back towards Pops. Part of me wanted to visually inspect every square inch of the plane but another part of me was desperate for some food. As I began walking towards the exit of hangar, Pop's put his hand on my shoulder.

"You're doing great, Kid," he said somberly. I nodded but I didn't understand where this was coming from. Picking up on my confusion Pop's continued. "You've got the trust of your squadron and you've got the skill to keep them alive. Bartlett would be proud of that. Don't forget that." He gave my shoulder a couple 'get going' pats and I continued on my way to the mess hall for some chow with deep thought coursing through my head. As I walked into the building, I recognized a pilot walking out. He was the only rookie pilot that had managed to stay alive during the attack on Sand Island when we had destroyed the Scinfaxi.

"Hey, where you going?" I asked as he continued on out the doors. He stopped when he heard me call out to him and stood there for a moment before he answered.

"Got transferred out of here. Heading back to Heierlark. There are people there who I," he paused for a moment with a face of thought. I remembered back to the woman who had told us to be careful with the young pilots. I also recalled the conversation with Kei about the reasons for her distress. When we both came out of our contemplation, we just nodded at each other.

"Have a safe trip," I said as I began walking off towards the mess.

"Captain Irving," the man said as I began my strides. I turned around to face him again. "Good luck, sir. With the war and everything." With that, he walked out to a transport that was beginning to pull out of one of the hangar's far down the runway. I was just about to get in line for the morning breakfast line when Chopper came around a corner and spotted me.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!" he exclaimed as he garbed my wrist and pulled me away from the delicious smell of breakfast burritos and towards the briefing area.

"But-"

"No time for it Kid! The Base Commander is already starting to go off on tangents about how you've gone rouge. We have to get you in there now so he can start the briefing." I sighed as I looked on last time at the mess hall before falling in stride with Chopper. When we reached the room I took my seat while the Base Commander looked at me like he was trying to melt me with laser vision.

"Well, I suppose now we can start this briefing," he said before resuming a more professional demeanor with some prompting from Hamilton. "Our army is finally ready to conduct a large scale counter attack against Yuktobania. If we succeed, we'll never have to face the humiliation of those Yukes trampling on our homeland again. The goal of this operation is simple. We invade and occupy the Yuktobanian mainland." He glanced out over the room before he pressed the button on the podium to initiate the real briefing.

"We are going to conduct a large scale amphibious assault against Yuktobania on the Bastoc Peninsula. This mission will be called 'Operation Footprint.' The landing force will be selected from the 1st and 2nd Osean army battalions. They will be divided into four companies, A, B, C, and D and transported to the area by our landing craft. Upon landing, each division will fan out and destroy the enemy bases scattered throughout the area, then rendezvous and reform into a single large force unit to assault the final target the fortress. The Yuktobanian defense positions along the coast are tightly dug in and we have concluded that air attacks alone will not be enough to destroy them. Therefore, 'Operation Footprint' will be a synchronized air and ground attack to neutralize these positions. It is critical that you follow the specific targeting instructions of the ground commander to maximize the effects of your attacks. We are expecting poor weather conditions and fierce resistance from the Yuktobanian defense forces. The fortress is protected by pillboxes and a defensive wall. Provide close air support for the ground forces and get as many soldiers as possible inside." The projector whirled down and the Colonel retook his position in front of the screen.

"I wish you the best of luck in battle," he said before we all stood at attention as he left the room. We had to be on site by 1630 in order to be synchronized with the ground invasion team. I took the extra time I had and transformed it into a long hot shower. I got suited up shortly after and walked towards the hangars with the A-10's with Chopper.

"How do you think this mission is going to go?" Chopper asked as we reached the half-way point to the aircraft that were being prepped by the ground crew.

"It'll go well if I have anything to say about it," I said to Chopper glancing up at the slightly taller man.

"Hey, Blaze," Kei called out behind us. I turned around to face her as Chopper continued to the hangar.

"What's up?" I asked Kei as she came running towards me with something shinny in each hand.

"I heard from Chopper you didn't get breakfast. Neither did I, so I picked up two burritos for us. Just make sure Pop's doesn't see you with it when you get into the plane," she said with a smile, holding out one of the aluminum wrapped burritos. I reached out and took the burrito and just stood there for a moment. Kei's eyes were on fire with the glow of the early morning sun illuminating them in an orange light, the light breeze making her hair dance around her face. I found myself forgetting to breath or even think on any sort of level and had to pull myself out of my stupor.

"Thanks," I said finally, causing Kei's smile to flourish even more. She nodded her head and walked past me to the hangar where her F-18 was waiting. I blinked a couple of times after her and then remembered we had a mission to do. I got into my A-10 and began to taxi for takeoff.

"I tell you kid," Copper started as we began to line up on the run way. "The way you lead this squadron, it's like Bartlett never even left." I glowed inside at Choppers comment, but I would never tell him that.

"Wardog," the tower called in. "You're cleared for takeoff." Chopper and I began to apply full thrust on the engines of the Warthogs. Once we were up in the air, we began to circle for Kei and Grimm to join us up in the air. Once we were all up in the air, we began our trip oversees. I opened my burrito wrap and began eating the still warm food item. I would have to find some way to repay Kei for her thoughtfulness. We were just outside of the AO when we began picking up the radio chatter from the ground forces.

"Terry. Got something I need to tell you..." The beginning of the conversation reminded me of when Kei had been trying to talk to me.

"The enemy's right in front of us, Scott. Save it for later!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Later, then."

"Wardog, this is Thunderhead. The four companies will now land at their designated beach heads. Commence close air support."

"This is Company D. We're almost at the beach." Chopper and I were at a lower altitude and flying just above the amphibious landing force. Chopper suddenly spoke up.

"The hell with this war..." Couldn't have said it better Chopper. Couldn't have said it better.


	12. -Boots On the Ground And In The Air-

**Boots on the Ground and in the Air**

"This is Thunderhead, landing confirmed. Continue your support Wardog. Fly top cover for the armored vehicles."

"Chopper, begin low level patrols over the area where the friendly ground forces are. Archer, you cover Chopper and make sure that enemy air elements don't get the jump on him. Edge, you got my back?" I asked.

"Always, Captain," she replied as she and Grimm split off and cover both me and Chopper. It was a crappy day for an invasion. Sheets of rain were pouring down and were limiting visibility to maybe five miles under the clouds. The area was heavily forested and turbulence was throwing my aircraft all over the place. I was starting to wonder how straight I would be able to send my cannon fire on enemy ground forces when Company B radioed in an air strike request.

"Halt the enemy fire with an air strike. We'll charge in at the same time!"

"Copy that Company B, ETA on target, ten seconds." I oriented myself with the bunker that the commander had designated and lined up the gun sights. When I pulled on the trigger, the sound of the cannon firing filled my ears and bones while smoke from the firing of the rounds blew around my cockpit. After two seconds of fire, I released the trigger and pulled back up to a loitering altitude. The Company stormed the position and took it without further problems.

"This operation is pointless..." Chopper began as I waited for my next target to be designated by the ground forces. "These guys are just gonna storm in, head-on, following orders. That's how war is fought. That's why I hate it. How could the President authorize an escalation of the war like this? This is insane. We'll get bogged down in this forever." Chopper had a point. For an anti-war president to authorize an invasion like this, there had to be something else going on. "Hey, that Mr. Cargo guy was the President, right? Man... I thought I could believe in him back then. I had no idea he was such a wuss." Sure, I didn't like the way the man had... treated Kei, it was... unprofessional. But he wasn't a wuss. Whatever was going on, I had a feeling that he didn't approve of where this war was going. Kei suddenly gave opinion over the radio.

"No. He's not." There was an uneasy silence for a moment that was broken by the scout we had heard at the beginning of the operation.

"Don't get hit, Terry. I still got something I got to tell you!"

"I know, I know, messenger boy. You hang in there too!" Another voice came over the radio.

"Second Lieutenant Rubin of Company B to our allied planes. Will you help us make our Captain's last job one to remember?"

"Second Lieutenant Rubin, this is Blaze of Wardog squad. I'm sure we can make something work," I said as I performed a low fly over of the Company, rocking my wings to let the ground units know that they had my air support all the way.

"This is Rubin. We owe you one. Marching to the sound of air support strikes... Pretty fitting for the Captain." I smiled to myself at the way that, even during a battle, there were still people who could put others before themselves. But for every good thing there is a bad. Company D, who was under Chopper's watch also sent in a request.

"Uh, this is Company D. I have a favor to ask... could you bomb our monster of a Captain from the air for us?"

"What, are you serious?!" Chopper asked. "What was your name again?"

"Ah, hey, I was just kidding... Psst, Lance, the plan failed. We gotta' think of something else."

"I swear man, Blaze always gets the noble causes. Meanwhile, I'm stuck with all of these... people." I just laughed a little at the comment.

"You know," Grimm began. "My older brother's down there."

"What?" Chopper said surprised. "You shoulda' told me that earlier, you moron! Where is he?"

"I don't know," Grimm said, obviously unaffected by Choppers insult. "They all look the same."

"Gah! Shit! We're getting pinned down again. This is Company B requesting CAS immediately. Sending coordinates."

"This is Wardog one, roger. Ready for tasking." My HUD suddenly lit up with over twenty different points. How many troops had laser designators? I started with the targets closest to me. As I came up to the first holographic box, I opened fire with the depleted uranium slugs. As the smoke from the discharged bullets engulfed the outside of my cockpit, I pulled up and away from the ground. "This is Wardog one, what is effect on target? Over."

"You nailed that son of a bitch! Did you see that Tom?! That Yuke didn't know what was happening!" My stomach instantly dropped. Were they targeting individual soldiers?

"Uh, this is Blaze. Just a friendly reminder to all ground forces that it is against UN conventions to target individual combatants with direct air support. Ready for next tasking." An instant later, many of the signatures disappeared from my HUD.

I was called in for a couple more air strikes against bunkers that were giving the ground forces a hard time. My cannon was doing a great job at suppressing the enemy fire while the ground forces moved up and over took a position. I checked the ammo counter and noticed it was about half way expended.

"Their Captain's come all the way to the front!" someone from Company A yelled out. I looked down at the ground and noticed an arrow head formation in Company B.

"The terrain's a little different from the aerial photos. Better adjust our strategy," the man called out. "Attack from the center... call it an old man's intuition." My HUD lit up with a new target almost immediately. I circled around and opened fire on the position. The spot where the targets had been flashed through the smoke of my firing cannon and temporarily blocked my sight. Enemy targets were soon nothing more than large burnt out vehicles.

"That's our Capitan for ya. He ain't old for nothing!" said one of the ground crew. Not too long after that, Company A and B joined into one as they began to converge on thicker resistance.

"It's kinda nice to have friends down below," Chopper said as his two units converged.

"Company A and B currently engaging enemy bunker. Requesting immediate CAS! Be on the lookout too. There is enemy SAM sites and AA guns." Well, it had to get harder at some point.

"Copy that, Blaze coming in for a gun run." I began to push my plane towards the enemy installation, the large A-10 being surprisingly good at yawing into position. Once I came into sight, the AA gun began to fire and warning alarms lit up telling me I was being locked on. I switched to my AGM's and fired, the two missiles flying off their rails and taking out the two targets at once. Taking out the bunker just became the simple task of pulling down on the trigger.

"Amazing..." I heard Kei whisper into her head set. "I don't think I'll ever be as good as Blaze." We were close to finishing up the operation as all the Companies joined up into a massive assault force for the fortress. "Enemy defensive fire decreasing. We're almost there," Kei said as Chopper and I flew towards the encampment to take out any tank-killing units. Suddenly I got an unexpected lock on.

"Dammit!" Chopper yelled out "I'm locked on!" he said as he started pulling the A-10 into a climb. I broke off to the left as an F-4 buzzed past us. It looked like the enemies air support finally got on station. But only one fighter?

"Where did he come from?!" Grimm asked.

"I don't know but we've got to keep him off of Blaze and Chopper," Kei said as she zoomed towards the target.

"Copy that- Ah!" Grimm yelled. I whipped my head back towards where he was and saw tracers screaming past his plane as another F-4 came through the clouds, briefly making a blue hole in the dark clouds. There's the other one.

"This is Blaze, hold on Archer, I'm coming to back you up." I pushed the throttle as far as it would go as my engines began to work overtime to increase the speed of the heavy Warthog. Damn, Newton, Give me a break.

"Captain, you aren't suited for an air engagement," Kei began but she cut herself off as she tried to stay on the other bandit.

"I got this Edge, you focus on that aircraft, I'm just going to get this guy off of Archer." I was within the engagement zone for the F-4 that was circling Grimm when the pilot turned his attention to me expecting an easy kill. I pulled off to the right as the pilot opened fire on me. "Grimm, get behind this guy and take him out. I can only tango with him for so long."

"Roger, Captain. Moving to engage." Grimm's rear glowed a blue hue as he put the after-burner on and rocketed towards the F-4 with streams of fire coming out of the back of his own plane. Meanwhile, the F-4 was following me as closely as he dared tracers flying past the canopy of my plane as I pulled the sharpest counter maneuvers I could in the relatively sluggish Warthog. I suddenly got a reality check as critical warning lights and alarms blared at me, telling me engine number one had flamed out. The turbines on the plane could only work so hard for so long and I was entering... The Danger Zone. I pulled back on the throttle as much as I could without stalling the plane knowing that the F-4 would stall out before I would and that I would now need the second engine to do the work of two and it just couldn't at such a high demand of power. But the pilot didn't seem to know this and instead of trying to slow down like I expected, he passed right over me and began banking left. I grinned at my change in luck. The targeting computer quickly gained a lock and I was happy to agree with its assessment of 'shoot.'

"Blaze, fox two," I announced as one of my two sidewinders jumped off the rail and hurtled into the enemy plane, turning it into a falling fireball.

"Great shot, Capitan!" Grimm shouted as he shot past my wing, just now getting to where he had needed to be ten seconds ago.

"This is Chopper. Kid, I've finished off the remaining ground forces." As if to confirm what he had said, the Company B leader sounded off.

"Attention all forces. All bunkers silenced. We've captured the entire fortress!" Another Company came on over the radio.

"Did you copy that, Air Force? We really appreciate all you support. We've captured a small airfield to the west of our position. An allied ground team will guide you there for landing." We began to head in the direction the man on the ground had directed us when the scout who had a friend who wanted to talk to him at the beginning of the mission called out over the radio.

"All right, things are a bit calmer now. What's on your mind?" But when there was no reply he called out again. "Hey, Scott!"

"Hey," the man replied. "Chill out... Dad. Congratulations!"

"What? You're kidding me, right?!" the man replied clearly excited at the prospect of having a kid.

"Not at all, buddy. You've got a bouncing baby boy. Hurry up and give her a call!" the other replied. When we reached the air field, Chopper and Grimm landed first. I was on approach when Kei spoke up.

"Even in all this death and war, there is life." I don't know who she was talking to, if anyone, but her phrase reminded me of the story of Razgriz I had heard so long ago. When everyone had landed, I received a bulletin informing me of our current tactical situation.

After intense fighting, the landing force captured and secured the fortress target. Thanks to the success of 'Operation Footprint,' we have secured the south-eastern coast of Yuktobania. We have decided to make the fortress our first forward base on Yuktobania as we expand our combat operations inside the country. After we complete construction of our defensive positions, our ground forces will continue their advance to the final target, the capital city of Cinigrad. I was thankful that the rain had finally stopped coming down as I jumped out of the A-10's cockpit. When I landed on the soft ground, I heard the faint click of a camera. As I turned around, I was surprised to see Genette.

"Hey," I said as I extended my hand to greet him. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Got a permanent assignment to you guys. Hamilton pulled some strings for me. Flew here with Thunderhead in the AWACS plane." I nodded as he put his hand forward and shook with mine. "So," he asked when we began to walk towards some of the ground forces. "What's new with Wardog squadron?" I chuckled at his attempt at coyness.

"Officially, we support the actions and decisions of our leaders whole-heartedly." Now it was Genette's turn to laugh.

"And off the record?"

"We're sick of this war. The invasion today was an unneeded escalation of a war that we don't even know how got started." Genette slowly nodded his head. We had almost reached the ground forces when I got punched in the arm from behind. "What the..." I turned around and saw Kei glaring at me.

"That was for putting yourself in danger. Needlessly. Again. Seriously, Blaze?! An engine burnout?! That thing was shooting out fire!" she said pointing at my A-10 that mechanics were already starting to patch up. "On top of that, you had an F-4 on your tail. I'm surprised he didn't shoot off your other damn engine!" I turned towards Genette with a confused face who was equally confused with an open mouth of astonishment. He glanced at me through the corner of his vision and quickly closed his mouth and turned around to head off towards the ground crew. I looked back at Kei who was just finishing putting her hair back behind her ears. She was tapping her booted foot on the moist earth and now had her hands on her hips like she was expecting me to say something. As her hair began to fall back out from behind her ears, I couldn't help but find myself thinking about how beautiful she was despite her temper at the moment. I was pulled back to reality when she spoke out again in anger. "Well?"

"I... Uh... What was the question?" I said, forgetting exactly what had caused her to get mad at me a moment ago. She almost immediately threw her hands down from her sides and made a frustrated shout before storming off away from the landing strip, splashing mud away from her foot falls. I swore I heard her mumble something pertaining to someone being 'dense.' I just watched her as Chopper and Grimm walked up to me, watching as Kei stormed off.

"What's her problem?" Chopper asked me when he was close enough not to be heard by Kei.

"I've got no idea," I said as we all watched her climb over a hill next to the landing strip. Chopper shrugged his shoulders and went to join Genette with the other foot soldiers.

"You know she's just worried about you, Captain," Grimm said looking up at me.

"Huh?" I asked as I glanced back over at the hill Kei had just disappeared behind.

"She's vowed to never lose her flight lead and every time you are in danger of causing her to break that vow, she gets concerned for you."

"But Grimm, If I didn't go and help you with that bogey-"

"I know sir, and I'm grateful you saved me up there. But when first Lieutenant Nagase is in the air with you, you're the one she cares about making it back home with. Chopper and I tend to be the second thoughts." I looked deep into Grimm's bright green eyes. For being as young as he was, he certainly was perceptive. Though I wasn't sure what he was talking about with the whole 'you're the one she cares about making it back home with,' thing.

"Well," I said as I put my hand on his shoulder. "Just know that when I'm flying with you all, no one's a second thought." I squeezed his shoulder and nodded at him. He gave a nod of understanding back before he responded.

"I know, Captain. That's why I'll fly with you anywhere." I flashed Grimm a smile to try and break the serious atmosphere we had created.

"Aw, you flatter me," I said as I playfully pushed him away from me. He returned the smile that I rarely got to see on his face. "I'll see you around Grimm."

"Likewise Captain," he said as he began to walk towards the gathering group around Chopper. From what I was hearing from his direction, he was telling everyone about our battle against the Scinfaxi. I began to wander around the camp looking for the General who had been assigned as the head of operations in the area. While I was searching, a ground-based soldier came up to me and stopped me by saluting. Once I had returned the gesture, he began to speak.

"Captain Irving?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" His face relaxed when he found out I was the man he was searching for.

"I'm Staff Sergeant Terry Tellehan. I've been tasked with finding you and bringing you to General Howell," he said. I smiled when I realized my search for the General had taken a turn for the shorter.

"Lead the way, Sergeant," I said as I threw my hand out for him to take the lead. He smiled and nodded and began to lead me through the rapidly developing forward base of operations. "Terry," I mumbled to myself as we continued through the base. "Hey, are you the terry with a new kid?" I asked. Then man became clearly surprised.

"You heard about that?" he asked.

"Yeah, your friend, Scott was it? He was broadcasting the entire thing. Congrats," I said with a smile. The man could only beam with pride of being a new father. I could tell we were nearing the Generals location when thick cords on the ground began to get unavoidable and hastily constructed antennas were peaking over the tents. When we stepped inside the General didn't seem to notice. He continued his pacing around the room as he visited one screen after another, pausing only briefly at each terminal. He was on his second round of passes when he finally noticed me and Terry.

"Ah, Tellehan, I see you've found the Captain of Wardog. Thank you very much Sergeant," he said as he walked up to us. "You are free to use the video link to chat with your family now, but make it fast. I don't want you using all our bandwidth for too long."

"Thank you sir," the man who had escorted me said as he left the tent. The General reached out to give me a hand shake when he had reached my location. He had silver hair that turned to a darker black as it went up on his head. He had to be in his fifties by the amount of lines on his face, but he still looked like the kind of guy who could beat most people in hand to hand combat.

"Good Afternoon, Sir," I said as I took his hand in a firm handshake.

"Good Afternoon Capitan Irving. You did a helluva job out there today providing air support for my men. If you ever need any favors from some people on the ground, don't be afraid to call me up to cash them in. You not only saved the lives of my ground forces with that CAS but you also saved me from having to answer to a bunch of politicians and worse, grieving mothers." He led me back to the edge of the square of computer monitors and once again resumed his pacing around the area. "I called you here to tell you that you and you're crew will be spending the night here in Yuktobania. HQ thinks the enemy will try and perform a mass pull back effort and wants you to be ready to intercept them when they do. You're crew's quarters are in this sector," he said point at a North West region of a local map. "Showers and other pleasantries aren't going to be available for a while but we do have some latrines set up about fifty yards from that location here," he said as he indicated another spot on the map.

"Thank you Sir," I said when he looked back up at me indicating he was finished.

"That'll be all, unless you had a question for me," he said before resuming his patrol around his command center.

"That is all, Sir," I said as I straightened out.

"You're dismissed," he said. I walked out of the tent and went to go search for Chopper and Grimm. I found them in the same place I had left them, although it seemed they had gathered about half the people in the growing camp. When Chopper saw me he spoke up loudly.

"And here's the man of the hour! The legendary Ace, Blaze!" I lowered my head and shook it while the people around Chopper began to whistle, holler and clap for me. I stumbled through the crowd as everyone took turns at slapping me on the back. It didn't feel right to me, being congratulated on killing people, but I still put a smile on for the show.

"First Lieutenant's Davenport and Grimm, a word please?" I said as I approached them from of the group. A tremendous 'oh,' and 'you're in trouble,' murmur came from the people around me as I came up to my two other wing mates. As the crowd began to thin out, Chopper and Grimm got closer to me.

"What's wrong, Kid? I thought you liked attention?" Chopper said with a devious smile.

"I do not like it," I said simply. "Now, our quarters are over..." I quickly glanced at my compass strapped around my wrist like a watch and then pointed in the correct direction. "Over there. You guys go ahead and start getting whatever we're going to be sleeping in ready for habitation. We'll be spending the night here and most likely scrambling in the morning." Both of the pilots shook their heads in understanding when I had finished and began to walk off. Grimm turned around after a couple of paces to face me while Chopper kept walking.

"Captain," he started, getting my attention.

"What is it Grimm?"

"Have you seen First Lieutenant Nagase yet?" he asked. Chopper stopped walking and Grimm just held his spot. Once they were both facing me, I stared at them questioningly.

"No..." I started slowly, "I haven't, why?" I asked back. They stared at me for a long time before Chopper spoke up.

"No reason, Kid, we were just wondering is all. But you probably should go find her. I don't think she's come back to base yet."

"Alright," I said to them. "I'll go do that. In the meantime, you guys get to our quarters and get them ready. I want to be able to sleep when I get back."

"Yes Sir." Grimm said as he grabbed Choppers arm and began leading him back. As they began to walk off, I could see their mouths move and Grimm murmur, "I told you. The Captain respects Nagase too much to think of even trying that."

"But she clearly wants it to happen!" Chopper tried to whisper. He never did have a good quiet voice.

"That's a different bet completely," Grimm said as he held out a hand to Chopper, who quickly stuffed it with an MRE fruit tin and a wad of money. What had they bet on? I began to head off to the area where we had landed and parked our planes. I climbed over the hill that Kei had scaled a couple of hours ago and tried to follow the small footprints she had left in the moist earth. I was so focused on looking at the ground containing her footprints that I almost didn't notice the creatures until I ran into them. I had glanced up only to see where exactly the sun was when I saw the largest white tailed deer in my life. It was only about 50 yards out and looking directly at me, unmoving. It licked its nose and blinked a couple of times before lowing it massive head that was adorned with an equally massive yet majestic rack of antlers. I stood there dumbfounded, my mouth hanging wide open at what had just happened.

"You look very contemplative." I nearly jumped out of my skin at the realization someone else was with me. I scanned the area Kei's voice had come from and suddenly saw her sitting among some bushes not too far off. Her olive drab flight suit was blending in well with the vegetation surrounding her. When I spotted her, her face lit up if only for a second, only to return to a confused then frustrated one like she remembered she was supposed to be mad at me. I slowly began walking towards her, careful not to disturb the buck that was grazing.

"You scared me pretty bad back there," I said as I sat to the right of her.

"Yeah, well, you scared me ten times worse today when you went after that bogey. You could've di-" I put my finger to her lips and she recoiled in surprise. "Caden what are you-" I resorted to covering her mouth with my full hand and pointed towards the deer.

"Let's not disturb nature with our yelling," I said with a small grin. True, I didn't want to scare off the beautiful animal grazing no more than 40 yards ahead of us, but I also didn't want the beautiful woman in front of me... I didn't want my wing mate in front of me to raise her voice to levels that would hurt my ears either. She nodded her head after she rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand to take it away from her mouth.

"What I was trying to say," she said at a whisper, "is that you could've died today. Now, I don't want to sound like your mom, trust me, that's the last thing I want you to see me as, but I'm going to have to start sticking even closer to you if you don't start being more careful." We looked at each other for a while before I spoke.

"Well then. I guess we had better work on our tight formation maneuvers." We both gave each other a big smile. I noticed that my left hand seemed a little warmer than my right. As I looked down to see why I noticed that Kei still hadn't let go of it since she had removed it from her mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she pulled her hand from mine. She began shading deeper colors and before she could realize I was doing the same, I turned towards the buck that had been grazing. Somehow, without us realizing it, another deer had joined it, a doe, and they were now both grazing together. I stared at the two majestic beast's regaining my composure, thinking about why I was like this around Kei. I knew I wasn't the smoothest guy around but the way I could be so easily embarrassed and lost for words when I was near her was a little demoralizing. I looked up at the sky that was starting to turn a beautiful red.

"I'm the one who's sorry," I said looking back at her. She turned red again like I had caught her doing something.

"Why is that," she said, trying to disguise her color change by pretending to be interested in the wet ground.

"Because I keep scaring you. I know, despite however misplaced it is, you still blame yourself for Bartlett being shot down, and I know you vowed never to let it happen to me." she peeked at me through some of the wisps of her short black hair. "Let's make a deal," I said to her.

"Okay," she said wiping her head back in an effort to get her hair out of her eyes.

"If you can stop blaming yourself for Captain Bartlett, I will try to stop being so 'reckless' in the air."

"What's up with the air quotes?"

"Oh, did I actually do those? I was only planning on doing those in my head. Guess they got out somehow..." I received a punch in the shoulder as she got up in a flash and ran back towards the base that was probably finished by now. In her rush to escape me, she startled the two deer that had been grazing so close to us. Both animals made loud huffing sounds and jumped away with grace that seemed impossible with their great size. I stood there a moment, forgetting about the plan I had yet to come up with to get even with Kei and just stared after the two retreating deer. They had both reached a hill and the doe retreated over it while the buck stood there for a moment, a perfect silhouette in the setting sun that was creating beautiful hues of blazing color. It was a shame we had to taint this land with war. It was a shame anything had to be tainted with war.

I climbed over the hill and saw Kei waiting for me near our planes. She still no idea where our tent was. When I reached her she just smiled at me.

"I suppose I will have to help you even after that little stunt," I said forcing her to laugh out loud and immediately cover her mouth as if she had been sick. The laughter was infectious and I couldn't help but let out a few chuckles that escaped my mouth. Once we had recomposed ourselves I led Kei towards the area we had been assigned for the night. When we reached the tent we would be staying in, Chopper and Grimm were outside waiting for us.

"There you two are!" Chopper said when he spotted us. "I was starting to think that Nagase had killed you or something and was trying to hide the evidence," Chopper said to me.

"I would never-" Kei started before realizing who she was talking to. "Ha ha, Chopper you're so cool. I wish I could be you," Kei said dryly as she walked towards the tent.

"Sorry, there can only be one of me in a 100 mile radius. Any more than that and there would be a 'coolness' black hole event that would destroy the universe as we know it." There was some rustling in the tent before Kei popped back out from the tent with her boot in her hand and chucked it at Chopper. With his back to her, he had no idea what was coming and was hit right in the ass by the rather small boot. "OW!" he cried out, more in surprise than in pain.

"So cool," Kei muttered as she pulled herself back into the tent. Chopper turned back towards me and Grimm.

"Must be that time of the month," he tried whispering. Key word being tried.

"WHAT THE SHIT LADY!" he yelled as another dainty boot sailed and hit him in the head. Me and Grimm couldn't help but break out in laughter as Chopper glared at us while he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm gonna go see a medical officer. That girl has got an arm on her." With that he walked out of the area we were in. The sun had already set and the moon wasn't out yet so the night was getting dark fast. As me and Grimm approached the tent, I called out to Kei.

"Hey, is it alright if we come in there yet?" I asked.

"Um, yeah, just a second," she replied as me and Grimm waited outside the flap of the tent that served as the door. "Okay, you're good," she called out. I held the tent flap for Grimm as he entered and followed soon after. There were four cots laid out with sleeping bags, pillows and a blanket on each bed.

"This looks great Grimm. Good job getting it set up."

"Thank you sir," he replied.

"Can I trust you men at not pulling any funny business in the night?" Kei asked from her bed.

"Wouldn't dream of it," I replied. For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw some emotion flicker across Kei's face. But it was gone before I could say what it was.

"Good," she replied a little more softly. I settled into bed not bothering to pull off my flight suit. If the General was right about the Yuktobanian's pulling out, I wanted to be ready the moment the notice was given. Everyone had settled in when Chopper came in. We were all quiet as he took the last cot and settled in.

"You know I tease you 'cause I care about you, right Nagase?"

"How come Grimm or Blaze don't tease me as much as you then?" she asked.

"Grimm doesn't tease you 'cause he's afraid of what you'll do to him." Chopper stated.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, Grimm," Kei said kindly.

"I know Ma'am. I just don't tease you because I respect you," Grimm said.

"And Kid, he doesn't tease because he likes- WHAT THE HELL?! HOW MANY FEET YOU GOT?!"

"I didn't do anything!" Kei said defensively.

"Go to bed you two," I said. They didn't say anything more after that except for a few grumbles from Chopper. I would have to retrieve my boot sometime before they woke up the next morning.


	13. -Secret Theives-

**Secret Thieves**

"COME ON, LET'S MOVE IT! GET UP YOU LAZY DOGS!" I flashed my eyes open to see a dark skinned male yelling into our tent. I checked my watch and saw it was only 0505.

I quickly got out from underneath my covers and began to put on one of my boots. Where was the other one? Chopper! I quickly reached over to his cot and was thankful he was still drowsy. After I pulled the other boot on, I noticed that Kei had watched me the whole time with a confused scowl. I just smiled and walked out towards the runway. But instead of two F-18's and two A-10's, there were now four F-18C's on the runway.

"Hey," I asked a guard who was on station. "What happened to the two Warthogs?"

"Got swapped out last night by two other pilots."

"Thanks," I said as I walked up to one of the Hornets and got in. I was ready to go when the rest of my squadron got in and started. Once everyone was up, Thunderhead gave us the briefing.

"The Yuktobanian force that defended the Bastoc Peninsula is staging a large scale withdrawal from the area. After analyzing the situation, we have determined that they are pulling back the force to regroup their defense network and strengthen their capital defenses. Yuktobania's southern armies sustained heavy damage during our landing operation and their defensive war power has weakened considerably. Their withdrawal is currently proceeding under the curtain of a set of electronic jamming signals. The enemy's air forces consist primarily of transport planes. Pursue these planes, destroy them, and halt their retreat."

We were about to begin operations when my radar started acting up. I was about to ask Thunderhead about it when Chopper spoke up.

"Hey, Kid. Did you take a listen to that song?"

"What?" I asked. "What song are you talking about?"

"Face of the Coin man! It's a classic!"

"Yeah," I said. "Sure it is." My radio began to pick up some of the transmissions General Howell was sending. I admired his efforts at trying to rally the citizens of Yuktobania to try and end this war, but I wasn't sure propaganda messages would do it.

"Due to current circumstances, we have been forced to set foot on Yuktobania with weapons in hand. However, our true enemy here is the Yuktobanian military who started this unjust war." My radar was suddenly filled with enemy signatures.

"Unbelievable!" Kei exclaimed when she saw the radar. There must've been over one hundred blips on radar.

"We gotta bag all these planes?" Chopper asked in disbelief.

"You think every enemy plane in the area is up and flying?" Grimm asked.

"That seems highly improbable, but it is what it looks like," I said.

"Well let's ask 'em. Hey, how many planes you got there?" Chopper called into his radio. Of course we didn't get a response. "Man, this is making me cry."

"Hey, uh, you don't think..." Grimm said before we intercepted an enemy transmission.

"Report from rear squad. Picking up something on radar."

"Aha... I think I've figured it out," Grimm said proudly.

"Well, do share your keen insights, will you please? What's up?" Chopper asked impatiently

"First Lieutenant Chopper, jammer aircraft!" I stared up at the sky and noticed a large plane with a strange circular center.

"So it's... a trick?" Chopper asked.

"Wardog, this is Blaze. I'm going to take out the jammer. You guys get ready for anything they throw at us once that thing goes down."

"Copy that, Blaze," Kei said as she took lead of the formation as I flew up to intercept the E-767. I pulled up behind it and focused my guns on the large rotodome on the back of the aircraft and opened fire. The radar signatures were reduced by about a third as the large plane quickly destabilized.

"Should have picked a different plane to work in," I muttered as the plane continued to rip itself apart.

"How could this be?" an enemy asked. "Our new jamming devices are supposed to be perfect!"

"Okay, I feel better now," Chopper said. "Ghosts aren't so bad once you figure out the trick behind them." General Howell suddenly came back over the radio.

"We wish to work hand-in-hand, harmoniously, with the citizens of Yuktobania for this operation. I've instructed our soldiers to follow this wish to the letter. Therefore, I ask you, citizens of Yuktobania: Do not fear us, but rather join us in-"

"Hey, you think it's going to be that easy?" Chopper asked.

"I can only hope," I replied.

"You're pretty optimistic," Chopper commented. We began to engage the transport craft that were in the immediate area. There were only three planes after the radar had been clear of the fake signatures. We all used our guns for the easy kills, trying to avoid hitting the cockpits of the craft if we could. We were on rout to the next concentration of enemies when my radio was suddenly filled with static and any order my radar used to have was suddenly disrupted.

"Enemy... jamming waves... interference..." was all I could pick up from Thunderhead. But suddenly, there was a burst of clear communication.

"This is the 8492nd leader. All 8492nd units proceed as planned."

"Dammit... even our radios... can't..." Chopper tried saying. Nothing was making sense.

"Heads up!... us!" I heard. That wasn't any one of us. Who was that?

"Hey, Kid, you... the... pre... in the Air...?" Chopper communicated in vain.

"Chopper? What was your last? I say again, repeat your last," I said to the rock and roll enthusiast.

"How... you say th... That's ju... rude, man!"

"Chopper, I repeat. I can't understand what you're saying!" Thunderhead suddenly broke through.

"ECCM! Restore communication link!" the radio finally cleared up from the static and my radar wasn't nearly as fuzzy.

"The Osean planes are firing on a school packed with civilians! They're at the engineering college!" My heart plummeted. That was ten steps back from peace. Who was firing on a college?

"Whoever's violating orders, cease fire immediately!" Thunderhead said quickly.

"What idiot's doing that?" Chopper asked no one in particular. I spotted the glint of windows about a mile out and began to climb again to find the next jamming craft. There were still too many signatures on radar.

"Attention, units operating in sector Charlie Omega! Attacks on civilians are forbidden!" Thunderhead shouted.

"That's right near us," Grimm said. He sounded very soft.

"Hell, that's where we're supposed to be operating. You see those idiots anywhere?" The pit in my stomach just dropped deeper with Choppers comment. Something wasn't right.

"I'm no joy," Grimm said. I opened fire on the last jammer in the area and the radar totally cleared up, revealing 12 more transports. "I don't see a thing and my radar just cleared up too," Grimm continued.

"This is Edge. I'm not showing any aircraft like that either. Are you sure?"

"Multiple casualties! Get an ambulance over here fast! Dammit! The Osean bastards!" the voice I had heard during the jamming said.

"This is Thunderhead. Wardog, did you engage in an attack on a civilian facility?"

"Absolutely not!" I shouted back. "Have we ever done anything before that would make you think we would?"

"Roger," Thunderhead said a little more modestly. "So you're sure you didn't do this," he said, more to himself than anyone.

"Why would we do that? Weren't you watching from up there?" Chopper asked. But I already knew the answer. The jamming made it impossible for Thunderhead to know exactly where we were. There was a funny feeling that invaded my bones. Something wasn't right and I had a feeling that we would be ending up in trouble.

"This is what I hate about war!" Chopper yelled. "No matter who starts it, it always comes to this!"

"Wardog, we still have a mission to complete," I said. "I know it's hard right now but we need to focus. Engage remaining transports so we can go home."

"Roger," all three said at once.

"Blaze, the remaining targets are spread out over a wide area. Without escorts to get in the way, mopping up the rest should be low risk. Should we split up and engage?"

"Copy that, Edge. Let's split and head home early."

"Roger, splitting off to engage." We were each responsible for a pair of transports. It was almost sad how easy it was to take them down.

"Last plane confirmed shot down. All enemy transports and jammers in the local airspace have been eliminated." We began our flight back to Sand Island in silence and it stayed that way for most of the way back. About half an hour away from base, we received an in-flight message.

We have succeeded in halting the Yuktobanian army's airborne withdraw from the Bastoc Peninsula. However, a Yuktobanian civilian complex, an engineering university, has been attacked. This occurred in an area within operating range of the Sand Island squadron. Sand Island air crews will report to Central Command HQ in the Osean capital city of Oured immediately. As soon as we landed, there were people who surrounded each of our planes and told us not to speak with each other. We were all escorted back to our rooms and ordered to prepare for at least a weeklong visit to Oured.

I began to pack my formal suit, my only pair of civilian clothes and a couple changes of fatigues as well as some workout clothes and a swim suit. You can never be too over prepared. Once I was all packed up, I was escorted by two MP's to a transport that was already starting up on the runway. I was the third person on board, Chopper and Grimm were already on and seated across from each other surrounded on either side by MP's. I took my seat and waited while Kei walked on board when she got on. She sat right across from me and I couldn't help but think back to the time that now seemed so long ago when we had come to this island for our squadron assignment.

The grin came out on my face on accident and despite the circumstances, Kei managed a small one as well. I quickly got rid of it though as one Kei's escorts started staring at me in a way that made me want to cringe. The flight was long. I tried going to sleep multiple times but I couldn't. My mind was racing and I kept thinking about what could happen and what was going to happen. At least three times during the flight, I noticed that my squadron had fallen asleep. How come it came so easily to them? When we finally landed we were taken off the plane one by one and lead to separate cars that were already on the runway waiting for us. If it were under different circumstances, I would have felt like a million dollars. We got in the cars and were driven silently for another half hour until we reached a decent looking hotel. While we were walking in, I heard Chopper comment something.

"If we get to stay in a place like this, I may just have to start putting myself in more dicey situations."

"These rooms are coming out of your pay," the guard escorting him said. "Now please, remain silent." We each took separate elevators and we weren't allowed to see where the other ones stopped. I was lead to a room and when we entered I was handed an envelope.

"Follow the instructions in that letter and don't do anything that will compromise your integrity." The two MP's looked at each other and the one who had just spoke nodded and then turned back to me. "Look, we aren't supposed to have opinions on the matter, but we believe you didn't fire on that university. Good luck, Blaze." With that the two turned and were gone, leaving me alone to wonder what they had meant by that. I looked at the envelope they handed me again and flipped it over a couple of times in my hand. I opened it up and read the curt letter.

Do not speak with anyone who will give witness tomorrow. Do not leave your room unless escorted. You will report to a hearing tomorrow at 0800. If only all military correspondence could be that short and to the point. I checked my watch and saw it was only 1723. I had to kill some time. I stayed up late, watching the television that was in my room. There was nothing but late night sappy dramas on so I got up and looked around the room some more. I was about to go to bed when a glint caught my eye near the door to the bathroom. I moved my head back and forth a couple of times to see if I could catch it again and sure enough, there it was. I walked up to it and couldn't believe what I found. It was a little camera. I was outraged at the invasion of privacy that had just come my way and was about to smash the camera in when a better idea came to mind.

"Hope you guys don't have any women watching this thing," I said to the lens. I began to strip down to nothing more than my boxers. After I removed those, I just danced around for a little bit. I felt stupid but wasn't embarrassed at all. If anyone was going to be embarrassed, it would be the people on the other end of this feed. I thought about how I was going to sleep tonight. I got a brilliant idea and grabbed some sheets and pillows from the bed and placed them right in the cameras view. I made sure not to cover anything up and went to bed lying on the floor completely nude. Definitely one of the stranger nights I've had. I wondered how Kei was spending her time. Was her room bugged to? What would her reaction be? Then I had to stop thinking about Kei or else I would have to hide from the camera.

I woke up the next morning a little cold. I wondered why until I remembered the bug.

"Did you like the view?" I asked the door frame. "Perverts," I muttered as I got dressed in my formal dress for the hearing. Once I had been fully clothed, there was a knock on the door.

"Captain Irving? Are you ready?" came the voice of one of the MP's from yesterday.

"I don't know? Why don't you find out from your friends who are watching me?" I yelled out to them. They were silent for a while after that.

"It wasn't our choice, Captain," another voice said. "Please, remember who the real enemy is."

"If we start taking each other's freedoms, I'm not sure I'll be able to tell the difference," I called out. "You two may not have told them to bug me, but I'll bet both of you were too scared to speak out against it." I opened the door for them so I didn't have to shout anymore. "Stick to your morals or you'll lose them," I said more gently as they looked me over. Then they saw the bedding on the floor in front of the camera.

"What exactly did you do when you found it?" one of them asked quietly.

"How about we get to that hearing and I'll tell you on the ride there." The one who had asked the question looked at his partner again and then nodded.

"The cars are bugged too," he said just as quietly.

"Then I guess you'll never know." With that, I stepped out of the room and closed the door while my two escorts brought me to the bottom floor and then to the front of the hotel where we all climbed into a car that headed for the justice building. On the way to the hearing I made farting noises that caused my two escorts to struggle not to laugh. The people monitoring me were probably feeling either really stupid or embarrassed. Either one was fine with me. When we arrived at the building, I was lead out of the vehicle and my escorts and I took a seat outside of two large doors just inside the large, old building.

Within ten minutes, the rest of my squadron as well as the operators of the AWACS craft came. Everyone was wearing their formal uniforms and it felt like we were all waiting to go to a really lame military ball. Thunderhead and his guys were the first to be interviewed. After that, Kei walked in. Her meeting seemed to drag on for quite a while longer than the others. Finally, Kei walked out of the room with red eyes and balled fists. One of the escorts reached out to lead her to the vehicles outside but she swatted the hand away from her.

"Don't touch me," she said in an uncharacteristically menacing voice. I wanted to ask her how she was and if she was alright, but I couldn't do that with the two people next to me. She just looked back at all of us with saddened eyes and then spent a good amount of time looking at me. She managed to put on a tired smile and I returned as genuine of one I could. With that, she walked out of the building with the two escorts afraid to get near her. Grimm was called next. His interview was the shortest one that had occurred so far, probably no more than three minutes. Then Chopper walked in. I was left thinking about what could get Kei so worked up when he came out looking a little confused but overall angry. I so badly wanted to know what was being said in there but there was nothing I could do until I was officially called in.

"Captain Irving, please come in," a woman holding a notebook said. I nodded and took one last look at Chopper as he was escorted to the vehicles outside. I walked into the dark room, surprised by the lack of light if only for a moment. A single podium was basked in light that was filled with fine dust particles. A barely discernible outline of a board of reviewers was in front of me. Off to one side was a woman with a computer, on the other was the woman who had gotten me with the notebook and a pen.

"Please state your name and rank and squadron into the microphone clearly for the record," one of the people who were at the board said.

"Captain Caden 'Blaze' Irving of the 118th Tactical Fighter Squadron of Sand Island." The woman to my right began typing wickedly fast and the woman on the left scribed away into her notebook.

"Captain, what were you and your squadron doing on November second at 0600 in sector Charlie Omega?"

"We were engaging Yuktobanian transport and jammer aircraft as mandated by Central Command," I responded evenly.

"Did you or did you not see any other Osean Air Defense Forces in the area?" another person asked, a woman.

"No Ma'am," I said curtly. There was a moment of silence like they were expecting me to have a 'but' statement.

"Did you or did you not engage a civilian university on the second of November?" another voice asked after a while.

"We did not Sir," I said without trying to raise my anger.

"Well, if you didn't see any other units in the area, who attacked? I doubt the Yukes would attack their own institution."

"Sir, there was severe radio and radar interference on the day of the operation as I'm sure had already been conveyed to you. It is my belief that the squadron that did attack the civilian complex used that as cover. During the radio interference, I received an unknown signal from a man who called himself the leader of the 8492nd squadron-" I was cut off by a collective sound of moaning. "Is there a problem?" I asked.

"The problem is that there is no known squadron within our military with that number," one of the panel members said.

"But what about the squadron who took our station after we helped the President at Akerson Hill?" I asked.

"How do you all know of that operation?" one of the people asked. "That's supposed to be top secret information. And our records show that the flight went completely normal. No incidences, no crash landings-"

"Erwin, he hasn't said he knew about the crash landing yet," one of the other board members said.

"He's not supposed to know our names either, Veronica," he said back venomously. There was a moment before he spoke again. "They obviously all have the same story. There has only been one discrepancy in the others and I say we see if it shows up now." There was a huff as another one of the members got ready to speak again.

"Are you aware that first Lieutenant Kei 'Edge' Nagase is a half-blooded Belken?" asked one of the members.

"What is the relevance?" I asked. So they knew. It made sense. Kei had said only the high ranking members of society had access to that information. I began to wonder if they had told Chopper and Grimm. Was that why she was all bent out of shape?

"Please just answer the question," the woman said.

"Yes." I replied. There were murmurs on the board again.

"How?" asked the woman speaker.

"She confided it to me," I replied. "Why is this relevant?" I asked again.

"Can you say with 100% certainty that you knew exactly where Lieutenant Nagase was when the civilian complex was attacked," asked another voice.

"No one can be 100% certain of anything sir, especially when you're in an aircraft that can move at twice the speed of sound. But I can be certain that unless you tell me what the relevance of this line of questioning is, I will cease to answer questions on the subject."

"We believe that it may have been Lieutenant Nagase alone who committed the attack on the school," said the committee.

"That's outrageous," I said holding back a beast of rage. "What motivation would she have for such a heinous act?"

"As you've stated to know, Lieutenant Nagase is half Belken. I think you will agree that is motivation enough." This was ridiculous, the amount of racism that I had just heard made me want to lash out in anger that I barely concealed in my next statement.

"A normal person wouldn't be able to find motive enough to seek revenge on the scale you are accusing Lieutenant Nagase of, that said, Lieutenant Nagase isn't a normal individual. In my time flying with her, I haven't met another person more hopeful for peace and an end to this foolish war. It's funny really," I started, knowing what I was about to say could get me into loads of trouble but I had been set off. I wouldn't allow Kei's name to be tarnished like it was now. "The one person who wants to help their country by stopping a war is getting misplaced blame from their country's leaders who refuse to look at her impartially because of her blood line. Lieutenant Nagase didn't fire on the college. You will not hear anything different from me." There were a few more murmurs as the people talked amongst each other. When they settled down, which was after a very long time, a female voice spoke out again.

"Captain Irving, you have reminded some of us of what we said we would do when we took our offices. A new investigation will be launched, keeping in mind that everyone in your squadron should be looked at with impartiality. You are cleared to return to your hotel. Please refrain from speaking about the case with anyone. Thank you again for your... poignant reminder." The woman who had been writing stood up and led me out of the dark room to my two waiting MP escorts. They took me out side to the waiting vehicles. I looked out over the city as we walked down the steps. This place was still peaceful. I was partially thankful we would be staying here a while. When we got back to my room, I was told I could speak with my squadron but I still had to avoid the topic of the case. I sat in my room a while thinking about what had happened. I was about to go see how Kei was doing when there was a knock at my door. I went to answer it and just as I opened it, Kei pushed herself in and forced the door closed again. Before I could say anything, she ran up to the door frame of my bathroom picked the camera off of the ledge, threw it on the ground and stomped on it.

"Um... how long have known about the cameras?" I asked her. She was panting like she had ran here from where ever her room had been and was now sitting on the ground and leaning against a wall. She had already changed out of her formal wear and was now in sweat pants and a baggy sweat shirt that looked very uncharacteristic of her. She still had some sort of... effect... on me though.

"Since last night," she said in between her panting. "You?"

"Same," I said. Her face turned into a confused scowl.

"But it was still there," she said pointing to the spot the now shattered camera had been.

"I had a little fun with them," I said not wanting to get into the detail of what that meant. "So, you seemed to get here pretty fast," I said before she could ask any questions. She suddenly burst out into a fit of sobbing. Now it was my turn to be confused. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"They knew," She said simply. "They knew I was Belken."

"Half Belken, not that it matters any," I corrected. I offered her a hand to get back up and she limply took it. I hefted her back up and lead her to my bed which had already been cleaned by room service. I took a seat in the recliner beside the bed.

"They told everyone, didn't they?" She asked.

"I don't know," I said truthfully. I wasn't in the room with them.

"When I came back, I left my room and watched my door from around a corner. First Grimm came up to the door. He knocked and waited and waited. Caden, he waited until Chopper showed up and then they waited together. I felt horrible not talking to them but, I couldn't face it." She looked at me with red eyes. She must've been having a horrible day.

"How were you able to tell me?" I asked. She sniffled a bit before she tried to get a hold of herself.

"You... I wanted you to know. I was ready to share that with you. They were told by someone who doesn't even know who I am or what I'm like."

"What are you afraid of?" I asked. She looked up at me and sniffled some more. "Do you think they hate you now? Because of who your mother was?" I asked.

"No, I just..." She pulled her feet up off the floor and spread out on the bed. "It was something personal. It was something I could share with the people I wanted to share it with. They took that from me." I thought I understood it now. Kei only wanted the people she cared about to know about her 'dark' secrets. It was something she had control over and now she had lost that control. But if that was the case, why had she only shared the 'secret' with me? My thoughts were interrupted by another knock on the door.

"Hey, Kid. You got some time to talk? Grimm's with me and we could use some company," Chopper called out. I looked at Kei who had taken a pillow hostage and was hugging it like her life was contained in it.

"You've got to face them sometime," I told her. She squinted her eyes shut. "We can do it together," I said. She opened one eye and nodded slightly.

"Kid?"

"I'm coming Chopper, hold on." I got up from my chair and headed towards the door but before I could leave the bed side, Kei grabbed my hand. I looked down at her.

"Thanks," she mouthed silently as she let go. I gave her a reassuring smile and went to open the door.

"Hey," Chopper said as I opened the door. "You mind if we come in," he said as he walked into the room. He was carrying a six pack of beer and Grimm was right behind him. To his credit, he didn't walk in until I said 'sure.' Chopper stared at the broken camera on the floor next to my bathroom. "What's that?" he asked pointing at the pile of broken plastic and glass.

"A bug," I said.

"No, that's a camer- oh," Grimm started before realizing what I meant.

"Why did they bug your room?" Chopper asked.

"They bugged all of our rooms," Kei said as she walked into sight. Chopper and Grimm looked at her a moment, probably surprised as I was with her change in attire and the broken look in her eyes.

"Hey," Chopper said so softly it surprised me. He extended his free arm as an offer for a hug to Kei. She looked at him and her eye brows began to dance as another wave of emotion hit her. She stumbled into his arms and he held her there as me and Grimm watched. After a while, Chopper patted her on the back. She sniffled as she straitened back up and out of Choppers arms. It felt crowded in the hallway of my room.

"How about we move into the living room area," Grimm said for me. Kei nodded her head and went back to the bed where she scooted up to the head board and leaned against it. Grimm and Chopper took both the remaining chairs and it seemed like I was without a seat in my own room before Kei patted the spot beside her on the bed. As I climbed into position, Chopper began handing out beers to everyone. As soon as we had all had a beverage in hand, Grimm spoke up again. "You don't have to tell us anything, Lieutenant Nagase. We know who you are. Some politician isn't going to change that."

"Yeah," Chopper said as he took another swig of his beer. "They don't know the Nagase we do." We all sat together a while longer, not saying much or doing anything. The sun was starting to go down and the room got darker before I finally spoke up.

"You guys want to see what's on TV?" I asked.

"Sure," Kei said. Grimm handed me the remote that was by him and we turned the station to a premier showing of the Avenging League. No more than an hour into the movie, Chopper had passed out with three of the six bottles empty around him. Grim was in a similar state with his bottle completely empty as well. I placed my half empty bottle next his and got ready to turn off the television until I looked over at Kei. She was still awake and watching the movie.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" I asked her.

"Huh?" She said looking back at me. Her eyes were finally dry and she seemed to have forgotten about the whole ordeal that had occurred today. "Oh," she said remembering. "Yeah, I guess I was over reacting a little," she said as she put her still unopened bottle on the night stand to her left. I got up from the bed and grabbed a pair of sweatpants I had brought with me. I changed in the bathroom and avoided stepping on the pile of camera parts that were still lying on the floor. I started to walk towards the closet to pull out the cot. "What are you doing?" Kei asked. I stopped and looked at her.

"I'm going to get a cot out of the closet," I said to her.

"Oh, no. No, I'll go back to my room," she said as she started getting up.

"Hey, it's fine," I said.

"No, I can't force you out of your bed."

"You're right, you can't. I'm doing it of my own free will. You can stay here tonight, I'll just get the cot."

"I'm sure we can share," she said stopping me again. I looked back at her. "You've already said you wouldn't try any funny business. We're just two adults sharing a bed."

"You sure?" I asked.

"I trust you," she replied.

"Okay," I said as I walked back towards the bed and got the TV remote to turn off the television, making the only light in the room the small amount that came from under the door and the moon light streaming in through the window.

"Good night, Caden," Kei said quietly as I got on the other side of the bed.

"Good night," I replied. I stared out the window of the room for a while, watching lights in the building across from us turn off and the occasional one turn on. I fell asleep not too long after that.


	14. -Steps Forward And A Leap Back-

**Steps Forward and a Leap Back**

The light streaming in from the window was what woke me up in the morning. Unlike the previous day, it was a much more enjoyable, and modest, experience. Grimm was still dozing away in the chair next to me. As I started to move around on the bed, Kei made murmurs letting me know she was on the verge of waking up. Wait, Kei? Oh, right. Just two adults sharing a bed. That's it. I gently got out of bed and went to the bathroom to get changed into some gym clothes to use the facility on the lobby level downstairs. I was just about to leave the room when Kei sat bolt upright in bed. She looked at the spot I had been and searched the room somewhat franticly until she spotted me next to the door. Her face relaxed when she spotted me before turning a bright red that she hid behind a pillow. I laughed under my breath and headed out the door. She could act so weird sometimes.

There weren't too many people in the gym. The ones that were in there left almost as soon as I walked in like they didn't want to be judged by Mr. Muscle. I mean I wasn't ripped or anything but, I did work out. I began by running for a little while and then did some reps with the dumbbells that were on racks next to a mirror. For a hotel, it was a pretty nicely equipped gym. I pulled out one of the mats hanging off to the side of the weight racks and began to do some crunches when another person joined me in the gym.

She had on short running shorts and a sports bra and started on the treadmill. I tried to avoid looking at this woman and continue my work out but she acted like she wanted me to just ogle her. This is why I had never liked going to a gym before the military. I was about to cut my workout short and just leave when Kei walked in still in her sweats.

"Hey," I said as I transitioned to push ups, changing my mind about leaving... just for the moment.

"Hey," She said back. She looked at the woman on the treadmill and the jogger looked back at Kei. I don't know exactly what happened but the sudden tension in the room was palpable. Kei walked over to the remaining treadmill and got on. She immediately turned the treadmill to a speed much faster than that of the woman to her right was going at, and began running. In response, the woman seemed to bump up the speed on her tread mill as casually as she could, which wasn't casual at all. What was making Kei do this? I may have had a diminished sense of awareness when it came to women and their 'desires', but I knew the first woman jogger was trying to gain my interests. Why was Kei... competing with her? Maybe she knew I found the other woman annoying and was trying to force her out. I tried to ignore whatever was happening between them but it was starting to become entertaining. I put my mat back and sat on the lifting bench in front of the dumbbells and discretely watched the two women by using the mirror. The rate Kei was jogging at was causing her to work up a sweat and I wasn't sure how much longer she could go before she overheated in her warm clothing.

I was about to step in and stop her before someone got hurt but before I could, Kei pulled off her sweat shirt to strip down to her sports bra. I was a little surprised at first. The most I had seen of Kei was when she was in her white tank top that she always lounged around in on base. But as the surprise wore off, I was torn between staying for the entertainment and leaving for modesty. I opted for modesty and left the room soon after. I headed back to my room to find both Chopper and Grimm still out of it. I decided to go for a swim instead of a shower and grabbed my suit from my bag and quickly changed and was out the door again. While I was waiting for an elevator, Kei appeared on the one I was waiting for.

"Oh, hey," she said trying to act like nothing had happened in the workout room.

"Hey," I slowly drawled, raising my eyebrows to ask the unasked question.

"Where you going?" she asked, avoiding the attempt I made to discuss what had happened. I thought it was pretty obvious I was headed for the pool but...

"The pool to cool off. It got..." I cleared my throat a little before continuing, "...pretty hot in that little workout room." Kei's face began to burn a red color and she quickly stepped off the elevator to let me on.

"I'll get Chopper and Grimm and we'll come join you," she said not looking back at me.

"Sounds good," I called back. Before the elevator doors shut all the way, I saw her take a quick glance back at me. She could act so weird sometimes. Especially around me.

I got to the pool area and was about as impressed with it as the gym. It was one of the good ones that had an actual deep end that went to about eight feet and a shallow end that smoothly transitioned from three to five feet before dropping off. The sun was coming in and doing most of the lighting in the area through a whole wall that was just glass windows. I started off by just walking around in the shallow end of the pool, pulling my hands through the calm water. I then transitioned to the deep end as I held my breath at the bottom of the pool for long periods of time, enjoying the quiet thumping of my own blood in my head. This underwater world was a sanctuary, quiet and cool, making me feel weightless and free without a safety harness strapped across my chest. I had been down at the bottom for a particularly long period of time when all the sudden there was a huge splash somewhere above me. I rose to the surface to see Chopper just coming up from the water himself.

"Nothing to get your head back to reality like a nice swim, eh kid?"

"I didn't have nearly as much good-time-in-a-bottle as you Chopper. You probably need this more than me."

"Whatever man," he said waving his hand dismissively at me. "Still feels good."

"Good morning, Captain," Grimm said as he walked into the water. I had given up on getting him to be more causal with me. He must've felt more comfortable being formal with me than informal. What ever worked.

"Good morning Grimm. How do you feel?"

"Oh, I'm fine sir. I may look like a light weight, but with my metabolism, it makes up for my smaller size."

"Good to know," I said with a small smile. Grimm just closed his eyes and winced as he realized that I wasn't checking to see if he had a hangover. "So Chopper, you got any plans to be with your family while you're on the mainland?" Chopper looked thoughtfully into the air for a moment before speaking.

"You know, that sounds like a great idea," he said after some complementation. "I'll tell them to come over sometime soon while I'm still here. You've got to promise me you'll meet them though. My daughter has been dying to meet you, though it might be because she expects you to have bright, red hair."

"What?!" I asked loudly, Chopper shrinking back a little at the confused cry. "Why would she expect that?!"

"Well, she wanted to know why you were called 'Blaze,' so I said it was because you used to have fire for hair but now it has cooled down enough to become real hair and that it's still red." I gave him an amused look. "I like to tell stories to her! It's how I get her to laugh."

"Looking at your face doesn't do it?" I said sarcastically. Chopper just splashed me with some water. "Okay, I'm moving to the hot tub. You two kids enjoy yourselves and don't get into trouble." I went over to the control for the Jacuzzi and set the timer for twenty minutes. Chopper and Grimm began a diving competition and asked me to be the judge. They both started with some weak pencil dives but Grimm eventually pulled out the big guns and did an actual dive into the water.

"Seven," I called out when he came back up.

"What? That was at least an eight," Kei said from around a corner. I couldn't see her yet but Chopper's jaw dropped from where he was. Even Grimm was silent for a moment as he treaded the water. After a moment, the young airman spoke up again.

"Thank you, Ma'am," he said as he got to the edge of the pool where a ladder to get out was.

"I'm calling it at least nine," Chopper attempted to whisper to Grimm before getting hit in the head by a flip-flop. Grimm just turned a beat red before returning to his diving attempt.

I steeled myself for whatever Kei looked like. I vowed to have a better reaction than my other two wingmen had. It was the hardest vow to keep in my life. When she rounded the corner, every part of me screamed to stare at her but I forced my attention to remain on the two performing the now very sloppy dives. She had on a black bikini that had orange accents causing me to reflect momentarily. These last couple of days had been the most I had seen of Kei in a very literal way. I wasn't sure what to say to her, if anything. I wanted to say she looked nice, but it was so hard to know where the line between casual and professional was.

"Hey Kei, it's like these two aren't even trying," I tried sparring a glance at her face and seeing she had a smile on it.

"Well," she started as she lowered herself into the hot water. "Not everyone can be 'Caden quality' all the time."

"How did you sleep," I asked with a lowered voice so that Chopper or Grimm wouldn't hear. I was still avoiding looking directly at her in fear of my eyes becoming glued to her.

"Fine, until I woke up," she replied still looking at me.

"Sorry."

"No, it's not your fault. I was already waking up anyways. How did you sleep?"

"Well, I didn't get kicked in the night so I guess you could call that good," I said with a smile and a sideways glance. Her face brightened up when I looked at her but she still gave me a punch in the arm. We chatted casually after that and I was able to keep my eyes from wandering for most of our conversation, glancing back at the pool when the temptation became too great. Chopper and Grimm eventually came and joined us for ten minutes making the job of diverting my attention much easier. We continued to talk until the Jacuzzi timer ran out and the bubbles stopped coming.

"I'll get it," Grimm said getting up to restart the bubbles.

"That's okay," I said getting up faster. "I'm done anyways. I don't know what I'm going to do today, but it's not going to be sitting around in a warm tub, even if it is with all of you." As I reached the dial on the wall, I heard someone else get out of the pool.

"You two find something productive to do today as well. And clean up the Captain's room before the cleaning lady has to do it for you," Kei said to the other two squadron members. I picked up a towel and quickly dried off, taking the stairs to my room soon after, feeling lazy for not having walked the three flights to the third floor of the twelve story building before. When I got to the room, I took a shower and changed into my civilian clothes, some jeans and a dark red long sleeve shirt. I grabbed my wallet before putting on a brown leather jacket and heading out the door, nearly running into Kei.

"Hey," I said after I had caught myself. She had changed into some normal clothes as well, some boot cut blue jeans and a gray long sleeved shirt. She also had her short hair at the perfect mix between messy and done up.

"Hi, Caden," she said looking up at me. "So what did you have planned for today?"

"I don't know, it's kind of like I said. I've never really had to think about what to do when I've got free time as a civilian. It seems so... boring now." Kei laughed at my comment.

"I know what you mean. I remember my first leave being a complete let down. Of course, I didn't have anyone to hang out with then..." she said trailing off.

"Well, why don't we start off with walking around down-town," I replied. "I've never really explored Oured too much."

"We?" Kei asked hopefully before I nodded. After a short pause she spoke again with a smile plastered on her face. "Neither have I." We walked onto the elevator and descended to the lobby level to head out to the down-town area. We weren't too far from the 'official' start of the down-town district and it wasn't long before we began to walk down one of the large side-walks that served as both a path for pedestrians and an art gallery for abstract structures. I noticed Kei was starting to hug herself like she was cold. Oured may have been closer to the equator, but it didn't have the warm ocean currents Sand Island had to keep it warm.

"You want to get a jacket?" I asked as we stopped by a large statue of what looked to be a horse staring up into the sky. Of course, with this kind of art, you could never be sure.

"That noticeable?" Kei asked with a slight shiver and a smile. I nodded and we walked along the street to find a suitable store. When we found one that Kei said wasn't too 'ritzy,' we walked in. There wasn't much for me to do other than wander around the store with Kei as my guide. I kept getting stares from the other women in the store, and every time I turned to face them, they returned their gazes back to the clothes in front of them like they had never been looking at me.

"Why are they staring at me?" I asked Kei in a quiet whisper. I couldn't see the whole front of her face, but from the corner of the mouth I could see rise, I could tell she was smiling.

"They're checking you out," she said. I suddenly felt uncomfortable and exposed.

"Why?" I asked continuing the use of my quiet voice as she continued browse around.

"Because you're man enough to walk into a woman's clothing store. Now, do you like this one or this one?" she said pulling two coats off the rack in front of her.

"Doesn't matter what I think, you're the one who's going to be wearing it." She rolled her eyes and took glances at both the coats before I said something completely stupid. "Besides, you'd look great in anything that's in here." I froze for an instant before I immediately recovered and turned, feeling the color come to my face. I found new interest in the coats that were right behind us that I had previously though had been very uninteresting. After a while longer of me avoiding her gaze, she decided on a brown coat that came just past her fingers when she wore it. After we bought the coat, we began to walk down the art gallery like street again.

"It's like there isn't even a war going on," I thought out loud as we were walking trying to bring back a sense of normalcy. "It's just been over a month," I continued, "I bet it hasn't even really sunk in yet for these people."

"It's sunk in for me," Kei said softly. I nodded. We had been in this war since the very first battle, even before the war had 'officially' begun. We walked into a city green space and began to walk down a shaded path of trees that had yellowing leaves. We hadn't said much of anything to each other for a while and I was beginning to wonder how the rest of the day would play out. I glanced over at Kei and she was just looking at her feet, occasionally correcting herself to stay on course with me.

"You feeling okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied as she lifted her head up at me. "Just day-dreaming," she said looking at me before breaking her intense study of my face and instead taking interest in a fountain near the center of the park.

"About what?" I asked her as she scanned around the park, looking at anything besides me.

"How I'm going feel when the war is over. How it's going to be the same and how it's going to be different." I nodded as she continued to avoid my gaze. It was weird with Kei. She could be so specific and forthcoming about some things and so vague and shy about others. I decided it was just another one of the things about her that made her special. I glanced at my watch and saw it was 1317.

"You want to grab a bite before we head back?" I asked.

"That sounds great," she replied nodding her head. She took another glance at me, the higher collar on her jacket hiding the bottom most parts of her face making her look like some sort of fashionable detective. I smiled at the amusing thought of Kei as a super sleuth and was rewarded with smiling eyes that peaked above the jacket. As we walked out of the park, we passed a children's play area where young couples sat and watched their kids play in the sand and on the equipment. Somewhere deep inside me, I felt a burgeoning of emotion at the sight of the parents looking lovingly at their children. It just jumped out at me, clear as day. The biggest epiphany I had in all my short life.

This is what I would fight for. My cause. To have a future like that, a family. Something caused my vision to blur and I put my hand to get whatever it was out of my eye to find out it was only liquid that I had put there. Quickly realizing I was crying, I put both hands up to my face and began to try and remove any evidence of my sudden swell of emotion.

"Hey, what's wrong," Kei asked, genuine curiosity and worry coming across her voice.

"Something got in my eye," I said rather quickly. I knew my face was shading and Kei knew me well enough to know I was lying, but, instead of pushing like she usually did, she remained quiet. We ended up visiting an authentic diner for a late lunch. We both ordered some shakes and burgers.

"So," I began, starting a conversation as we waited for our meal. "Where would you live if you could live anywhere you wanted?" It was a question that was usually easily answered by any Osean citizen. They would always choose some part of the country within four seconds usually their own home towns. But I knew that asking someone who wasn't from the country itself might yield an original response for once.

"Not sure," Kei said with a smile touching her lips. "Somewhere I could see all the beauty this world has to offer," she replied after thinking it through for a couple of seconds.

"Sounds like you want to live on the Arkbird," I said with a grin. She laughed and turned her gaze away from me.

"How about you?" she asked looking back towards me.

"I'll be happy wherever Mrs. Irving's happy," I said, nearly quoting one of my dad's expressions he almost always repeated when my mom asked if he was happy in Osea. It had been her idea to move here after the war and she always seemed to question if it was the right decision. I brought my self-back to reality to see Kei had an expression I couldn't place my finger on.

"Mrs. Irving?" Kei asked with a confused face as she began to withdrawal.

"Yeah, my future wife. Call me weird-"

"You're weird," she interrupted with a goofy grin. I smiled and continued to speak.

"-for thinking that far ahead, but it's oddly soothing." Kei's face almost immediately changed to an expression of... relief?... before turning away to hide the deep crimson color spouting from her cheeks. "What? You didn't think I was married, did you?" I asked with a big smile and a slight chuckle behind my voice in order to conceal my own embarrassment.

"No, you just... confused me," she said, a look of gratification crossing her red face when our waiter brought us our milkshakes. She quickly hid her face by looking straight at the table while taking large sips of her beverage through the straw. When she finally looked back up, she seemed to have recovered to a normal state. "My turn," Kei said.

"What?" I asked, a little unsure of what she meant.

"To ask a question," she clarified. I nodded when I understood. "What gets on your nerves the worst," she said, clearly thinking of her answer already as she asked the question.

"I bet you already know," I said to her. She squinted her eyes in thought for a moment, probably trying to remember if I had said or done anything to give it away to her.

"Is it... is it when people," she paused thinking about how to phrase her words next. "When people praise you 'unnecessarily?' Like how when Chopper talked you up in front of those nuggets back at Heierlark, or when Azarola," she paused for a moment as anger came to ruin her beautiful smile. "When that pilot at McNealy took an interest in you purely because of your skill and her ability to ride on your coattails?"

"Bingo," I said trying to get the happy Kei back. "How about you? What drives you up walls?"

"You," she said jokingly. We sat for a split second in silence before we both busted out laughing. Once we calmed down she spoke again. "Okay, for real it's when people try and mitigate my efforts at something." I looked at her as she started giving an example of her pet peeve to me. She was so open to me in this moment. And it was different than when we were at McNealy. That had been in private. Here, in a public place, she was sharing openly with me about things we would never talk about if we were just co-workers in the military. Was this what it was like to go on a... date?

"Caden?" she asked looking at me. I had been starring at her.

"Gah... yeah. Yes. Yes?" I said snapping out of my trance.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bore you," she said looking back down at her shake.

"Oh, no. No, you weren't boring me, I was just thinking and listening," I said trying to fix what she thought of me.

"What were you thinking about," she asked.

"Well," I began. Should I tell her that I thought this was like a date? Would that make it weird? I couldn't tell her. She would think I was taking a pass at her. She didn't need that from me. "I was thinking about how that makes sense, your pet peeve about being belittled. I bet all those times you got passed over for OTS drove you nuts." She smiled and nodded at me. Good save.

"Yeah, but it all worked out in the end," she replied. "If I had gone earlier, who knows where I might've ended up? This way, it worked out that I got placed with you." She looked at me for a split second with something in her eyes before she shut them closed and shook her head as if there was something very sour in her mouth. "And... Chopper and Grimm," she quickly added returning to normal again. Despite my desperate efforts to conceal my surprise at her actions, I stared at her with a somewhat worried face. Catching my look, she placed her hands on the back of her head and brought her elbows to the table to conceal her face. "I'm such a weirdo, aren't I?"

I leaned in as if I was going to tell her a secret. She must've felt me get closer to her or something because she looked up from her hiding spot and gave me a questioning glance before something passed in her eyes. It was so brief, I didn't know what exactly kind of emotion she was trying to express.

"In case you haven't noticed," I whispered to her, glancing around as if someone was going to try and eavesdrop on us. "I don't really mind. It takes the attention off me," I finished with a smile directed towards her. She quickly dropped her mouth in fake astonishment at my comment as if she had taken offense. She wasted no time in quickly slugging me in the arm as our waiter brought us our burgers.

"You two are adorable," she said. She was old enough to be my grandmother and the way she had treated us so far this evening was doing nothing to refute that possibility. "How long have you been a couple?" she asked innocently. Kei and I immediately made eye contact before changing to the color of strawberries and finding something else of interest in the room to look at. "Ah," the older server said. "First date, huh?" she said looking at me with a knowing smile on her face. I quickly glanced at Kei to see her looking intently out a window.

"I guess you could say that," I said slowly, trying to get help from Kei but she was too absorbed in the scene outside. I brought my gaze back towards the mistaken women.

"Well," she said keeping her eyes on Kei as she leaned down towards me. "She's definitively a keeper," she said in a whisper that was just loud enough for Kei to hear. My head was pounding and my heart was racing as it filtered through the abundance of emotions which came flooding in. She gave me a nod and a pat on the back as she straightened back up to leave. Once she was out of ear shot, I cleared my throat as an attempt to signal Kei that the woman had left.

"'I guess you could say that?'" Kei said when she slowly looked back at me with a questioning face. Uh-oh.

"Um..." I started before she spoke up again.

"Is that what this is to you? A date?" she asked. For a moment I was at a loss. The way she had asked, it seemed like either way I would answerer would be both right and wrong.

"I wouldn't know," I answered truthfully. Her face became confused, maybe frustrated, before she brought it back to one she might use during an interrogation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said.

"I've... never... really... been on one. So..." her face lost all of its neutrality and went straight to confusion before a realization came over her.

"Oh."

"Yeah," I said looking down at my burger.

"Sorry," she said, mirroring me.

"It's fine. Not your fault or problem. Let's just eat and get out of here," I said as I began to eat the meal in front of me. It looked like she was about to say something else but didn't and ate her burger. Despite the mood change between us, the burger still tasted great. When the waiter came back around for the bill, me and Kei tried to hide our new found discomfort of each other but part of me figured she saw through it and I knew she had when the bill came back as 'on the house.' I put half the cost of the meal on the table anyway and we left the restaurant in quiet silence. We didn't even speak one word during the painfully quiet walk back to the hotel and Kei went straight to her room on the floor above mine. I sat down in my room and just stared at the TV as it spoke at me nothing coming out of meaning anything. What a turn around. I suddenly heard a knock on the door. My heart rate became erratic as I began to think that Kei was there waiting to say something that would make it all better. I practically ran to the door but when I flung it open, it was my MP guard detail.

"Captain Irving, there's been an incident and you and your squadron are needed at Apito International Airport. You will be briefed en-route to the area. Please follow us."


	15. -Papa Hut, Since 1958-

**Papa Hut; Since 1958**

I could sense the urgency as I was escorted to a car that was waiting for us outside the hotel. When I got into the car, I was greeted by the rest of my wingmen. Slightly surprised, I glanced back at my escorts.

"We need to explain some things," the first one told me as he got into the vehicle behind me.

"This will be a crash course in some new equipment that you will be issued," the other one began as the door was closed and the car promptly took off. "Sand Island has been behind in terms of equipment upgrades and now that you are here near Oured, Capital Air Command feels it is only appropriate to make sure you have the latest and greatest."

"Oh, I see how it is," Chopper began. "As soon as it's their asses on the line, we get the nice stuff. These guys..."

"Anyways," the second escort said. "You will be getting the latest in G-suit tech. It has air bladders that fill up with compressed air when you're in high intensity maneuvers and an oxygen delivery system that will allow you to perform in extended high-g environments up to thirty seconds at a time. You will also be receiving a night vision apparatus that has stereoscopic capabilities, although it is a little bulky." I tried paying attention to the small information we were getting but I kept drifting my attention over to Kei. We eventually got to a local airport that had our aircraft ready for us. I got into the new flight suit and it fit like a glove. My guard detail had been modest about calling the new NVG's a 'little bulky' though. They were huge with four separate protrusions that I assumed were the lenses to give the peripheral view that normal NVG's lacked. The actual oxygen mask was very snug as well. For the first time in my fighter pilot career, I felt like an actual fighter pilot with top of the line gear.

Eventually, we were all in our aircraft heading towards Gurnard, the city Apito International was at. We watched the sun which had just dipped below the horizon which made the sky just as empty of light as we were of talking. I could guess at the reason Kei was being silent, but I was wondering what had gotten into Chopper and Grimm. I was about to ask them when Capital Air Command, the stand in for Thunderhead, began the mission briefing.

"Yuktobanian aircraft had been suddenly detected on radar southeast of Oured when you were notified to sortie. They are flying in the direction of Apito International Airport, located in an area between Oured Bay and the capital. Apito International is a civilian airport. The enemy's intentions are unknown. Passengers and personnel are currently being evacuated, but the sudden appearance of the enemy has plunged the airport into chaos. Intercept and engage the invading enemy formation, and protect Apito International Airport."

"This is Wardog one, roger. Wardog flight, get ready to intercept," I called out to my flight. We were still a couple minutes out from contact with the first enemy signatures.

"This is the Airport Control Tower. Emergency Alert! All planes, cancel takeoff clearance! All approaching flights, change course immediately!" The man sounded frantic and on the verge of a panic attack. A concerned pilot of a civilian airliner came in.

"Change our course? Change it to where?" Another civilian pilot spoke out as well.

"This is Air Ixiom Flight 21. A high-speed aircraft just passed by us 600 yards away!" The control tower spoke up to clarify.

"They're allied fighters taking off on an emergency mission. All flights be heads up for mid-air collisions!"

"A fighter?" the Air Ixiom pilot said confused. "I thought the war was over on the west coast."

"Aw, how peaceful this place is. I'm chokin' up here." Chopper said sarcastically.

"Which squadron was that, do you think?" Grimm asked. Capital Air Command had the answer to that.

"It's the Capital District Air Defense Squadron. The enemy has unleashed chemical weapons in a college town, 400 miles from the airport. One squadron is on its way there to spread neutralizers. You're the only ones that can defend the airport."

"How could they?" Grimm asked. I had a similar disparity in my stomach that I wasn't sure I would be able to hold down. Why were the Yuktobanian's starting to attack all of these civilian targets?

"Contact sighted," Kei spoke out drawing me from my pondering. "I can see the enemies' engines after-burning. Edge, engaging."

"Roger that," I replied. "Chopper, you and Grimm start looking around for any other fighters as well, don't let them get close to those airliners."

"Roger that, Captain," Grimm replied dutifully. I switched my cockpit to night vision mode and all the lights began to dim and shift to a red hue. I pulled down the special visor we had all been outfitted with that looked like it belonged to a sci-fi movie and blinked a couple of times to get used to the now green world around me. After a second of adjusting, I saw a flight of two F-14's with Yuktobanian markings.

"This is Blaze, engaging two bandits over the lake west of Apito," I called out.

"Copy that Blaze, moving to support," Kei called out. I smiled the slightest bit, realizing that, even if things between us weren't the smoothest on the ground right now, we were still effective in the air. I pushed my throttle up towards the max position to intercept the two targets. Once they spotted me, we began to dance in the clear night sky, all of our senses being sharpened for the sole purpose of shooting down the other. One plane began baking and I entered a turning fight with them as their wing-mate departed. The plane that left would come back any moment to take care of me and I needed to be out of there by then.

"Blaze, I'll split off and get the other plane. You got this guy right?" Kei asked. I could sense the slightest bit of a playful tone behind her question. In response, I decided to end the silly turning battle and pulled back on the throttle and applied the air brake on the back of my plane and pulled up sharply to put my nose in front of the enemy I had been turning with. A few cannon rounds later, I replied to Kei's small taunt.

"What were you saying? I was too busy being Chopper level cool." There was a momentarily quiet that filled my ear muffs allowing a brief interlude of my own jet engine noise to came to my attention. It was then interrupted by all my wing mates having a good and hardy laugh in a battlefield that was 5000 feet up in the air.

"How are you looking with your target, Edge?" I asked as I pulled up to a higher altitude to regain a tactical advantage. The lights of buildings below me blurred the slightest bit as the NVG's display had a slower refresh rate than my eyes.

"Target has been dealt with. Let's engage the next set of fighters."

"Copy that. Chopper, Grimm, make sure that the enemy doesn't get near the airport. We can't have them shooting civvies out of the sky."

"With you and Nagase intercepting them all, I don't know how much good we can do from here, but alright," Chopper responded.

"Got an enemy formation at our ten-o-clock," Kei said. I moved my head towards the specified sector and saw a flight of four F-18s coming to meet our own head on.

"Let's deal with them," I told my wing mate as I applied more throttle towards the approaching hostiles. "You take the ones on the left, I'll deal with the right," I told Kei as we reached the engagement zone. All I got in response was a grunt as Kei began to pull up high in a sharp climb. I continued to fly straight towards the enemy and before diving at the last minute in a dangerous game of chicken. I began to cut my speed and pull as sharp of a turn as I could manage and suddenly it kicked in. At first, I thought I was losing it and was just about to pull out of the turn but suddenly the bladders in my suit filled and a sudden burst of pure oxygen flooded my mask. The darkness that had been coming to the corner of my green filled vision disappeared and although I still had to try at it, I found it incredibly easy to pull off the high intensity maneuver. I came back around and started pursuing one of the elements. The two planes didn't leave each other's side. It was admirable that the two wing mates would stick together, but that meant that when I opened fire on both of them with 20mm rounds from my gun, they went down together as well. I did a quick look around to see if Kei needed any help but when she rose up from below me and started flying off my wingtip, I knew she was clear as well.

"Guess now is a good time to start practicing those tight formation flight maneuvers, huh?" I asked her with a joking tone. In response she just nudged a little closer.

"Don't get any stupid ideas," she said in a warning tone that was conveyed with a little mirth to make it sound not at all threatening.

With no planes showing up over the next minute, we began to request permission to land at the airport. That was when Grimm spoke up.

"Look at all the enemies on the IFF!"

"Where?" Chopper said just as confused as I was. "Down below? On the ground?"

"This is Airport Control Tower. Military transport planes parked on the runway, state your squadron number and call sign."

"This is Capital District Air Command. We haven't deployed any allied military transport planes to civilian airports at this time."

"Tanks coming out of transport planes!" one of the people in the airports control tower yelled. "They're firing! It's the enemy! Enemy forces inside the airport!"

"Hey, Kid, did you hear that just now? This is the middle of Osea. How can they be attacking here?"

"This is Edge, I heard it too. It appears that the enemy has infiltrated the airport."

"Destroy the tanks and the transport planes," Capital Air Command called over the radio. "Don't let them cause any more damage here."

"It looks like we were tricked," Grimm said disparagingly over the radio. "They were really after the airport."

"There should still be something we can do," Kei said, trying to pull the young man out from his dark musings. "It's too soon to give up."

"This is Flight 417. We've been in holding pattern for hours. We're on emergency fuel."

"It's too dangerous," the control tower nearly shouted. "I can't give you clearance to land right now."

"Tell that to my fuel tank," the civilian pilot replied. "Can't you help us land here?"

"This is OWA 783. We're running out of fuel too."

"Are you listening?!" the man in the control tower yelled franticly. "This is war here! The freight terminal's getting shot at Dammit! This is a civilian airport!" I began a gun run on a line of tanks, scoring a total of three kills that were followed up on by Kei who was right behind me. While we went after the mobile ground units, Chopper and Grimm went for the parked transport craft. Suddenly the sky began to streak with bright tracer rounds from enemy anti-aircraft fire and lock on warnings started their low tone buzz.

"The enemy has brought out aircraft counter measures," Kei said coolly. We just took it in stride and began to weave through the lines of fire and target the ground forces that were trying to take us out. When the remaining ground forces had been dealt with, Chopper spoke up.

"Then again," he started musing. "We did sorta do the same thing to them, over in their country."

"So this is their retaliation for that?" Kei asked him. "Why do people have to be so foolish?!"

"We got word that the enemy Special Forces unit that gassed the college town is headed for the airport," Capital Air Command said. "Stay heads up."

"Well," Chopper began again. "If that's what it is, then where did all these fighters come from? Even if they could refuel in the air, fly all the way here and get through our defenses to destroy our capital, there's not nearly enough of them occupy the entire country. They must really hate us, or else they wouldn't have gone this far."

"Hatred only breeds more hatred," Kei started as we began to pull back up into the sky, the ground cleared of enemies. "It all just feeds on itself. Only a deep hatred could drive them to do something like this. Blaze, what lies at the root of this attack is hatred itself. There's no military advantage in attacking a civilian airport. This is nothing more than retribution."

With the area seeming clear, the civilian airliners began to gripe even louder. Finally the control tower appeased them with clearance.

"Wardog, this is Capital Air Command, we would like for you to stick around and cover the landing planes. Make sure that the enemy has really pulled out."

"Copy all," I replied to our controller. We all took turns escorting the planes to the runway. I wanted to believe it was over and done but something in the bottom of my stomach wasn't quite settling.

"Kid, this is Chopper, I'm starting to get to a fuel state similar to these airliners. I'm gonna' have to land soon."

"This is Archer," Grimm spoke up. "I'm in the same boat as Chopper."

"This is Capital Air Command. Wardog, you have permission to begin landing."

"Here that?" I asked Chopper and Grimm. "You guys go ahead and get down there. I'll be good for a little while longer."

"Copy that, Kid," Chopper said as he began his approach. There was one more civilian plane that was coming in but Chopper and Grimm would be able to land before it got within range.

"Blaze?" Kei asked after a couple of minutes of waiting for the last plane.

"What's up?" I responded.

"Does something feel... off... to you?"

"So you feel it too, huh?" Before she could answer though, the final flight began to broadcast letting us know that our concerns weren't unjustified.

"This is flight 831! We have been engaged by hostile fighters! Please hurry! They're coming around for another pass!" My heart race began pounding as soon as the panicked voice came over the channel. I was headed in the direction of the transmission and was already on site by the time the transmission was over. The most concerning thing however was that except for the large signature of the airliner, the radar was clear.

"Shit," I said under my breath. I franticly began scanning the night sky. If what I thought was happening was really happening, then it might prove just as useless. "Edge, we've got a major threat on our hands. We need to stick on this plane like its paint, you got me?" I asked, failing to keep the fear out of my voice.

"Caden what's going-"

"Stealth fighters," I answered before she could finish. Not only would these aircraft not show on radar, measures had been taken to reduce the thermal and infrared signatures of the planes to increase its already ridiculous survivability. Almost in response to my statement, tracer fire began to come out of nowhere and streak dangerously close to our canopies. "BREAK, BREAK!" I yelled as we both pulled off away from the rounds. There had only been one stream of fire suggesting a lone wolf, but there could just as easily be eight circling around us.

"Crap," I heard Kei mutter.

"Edge, sit-rep!" I called out franticly.

"Right wing was hit and controls are starting to dampen. I need to land now or I won't be able to later." I was shocked silent and it wasn't until she began speaking again that I was roused out of it. "Blaze-"

"You've got to land," I said before she finished. "I'll deal with this loner." The silence was unbearable but eventually Kei responded albeit hesitantly.

"Copy, Control tower, this is first Lieutenant Nagase coming in for a landing with flight 831 in close pursuit." After a moment, she spoke back up, her voice directed to me. "Don't make me have to kill you when you get back."

"Copy that," I said and despite the circumstances, a small smile came to my face as Kei and the plane moved away from the area, bullets out of nowhere only focusing on me. After a short period however, static slowly came over my head set and soon it was the only thing I could hear. Then, it just stopped.

"Herr Caden 'Blaze' Irving." The accent was unmistakably Belken and sent shivers down my spine. Not only a highly maneuverable, stealthy aircraft, but a Belken ace to boot. "I see that CAC has decided you are worth more to them as a functioning unit than an example of how far a group of pilots can fall. Or maybe they just didn't want to remove the only source of moral your country has now with the Arkbird out of commission. Shame about that 'peaceful' bird, isn't it?" The pilot's words were cold and overly polite. They only put me more on edge, my head swiveling like an owls.

"What's it matter to a Belken?" I asked. They weren't part of this war, this was between Yuktobania and Osea... right?

"You surprise me," the man said, and unlike his previous words, these seemed genuinely so. "I honestly expected an idiotic question like, 'Who are you?' and 'What do you want?' but then again, you aren't nearly as stupid as some Osean's can be. Maybe because you're not Osean." Just how many people knew about my background? "But, I'll go ahead and answer your question, and the ones a moron would've asked anyways. Besides, you won't be able to relay that information to anyone else, so what harm will there be?" he mused to himself. I continued to swivel my head around. There was nothing glinting in my goggles, no flashes on my radar, and the tower wasn't responding to my hails.

"They can't reach you," the man said, a hint of cruel laughter in his voice. "Admirable though. You know, if you hadn't caused as much trouble as you already have for my great country's plans, we might have recruited you, maybe even Frau Nagase with her half-blood heritage." I began to burn under my mask. I needed to get out of here or take this guy out. I prepped myself for my move and as soon as I was ready, simultaneously applied full throttle and pulled up on my flight stick. "Ah," the man began with a hint of satisfaction. "I was wondering when we could begin." Immediately, a lock on warning was issued to me and I quick flipped off the annoying warning tone before it drove me nuts. I continued the fast paced climb knowing I would be able to work better with height. I had no idea where my opponent was yet but if I could get above him, I might get out alive.

"You see," the other man began, clearly not having any worry in his voice, only contentment. "To answer your question about Belken interests, we have grown tired and discontent as the world regularly forgets where it would be if it weren't for Belken innovation. Remember the Belken who pioneered rockets that eventually lead to Osea selfishly claiming the moon like a child pissing in a sand box? Or the Belken scientists who selflessly helped build the orbital defense systems that prevented our species extinction? How about the two Belken brothers who pioneered flight and brought boundless freedom to people like you and me? All these people, their nationality forgotten so the rest of the world can just forget about the country that produced these advancements so they can continue to rob and steal from us." I pulled back on my stick again and was now flying inverted at 20,000 feet before I rolled back over and scanned my tail.

"Who am I? Only one of the many Belken's who realize that we can no longer just stand by and allow the world to pillage and rape our homeland. What do I want? To annihilate the one who is becoming an annoying block in our ascension to our rightful place as the world leaders." The cockpit suddenly glared at me with a missile warning and critical alerts. Tracer fire flew past me and I swore I heard at least two thunks as bullets pelted my plane. I had to move, now. The engines were pushed into the red as I rolled to the left, dived down and jinked back up releasing my only IR countermeasures. Cutting the engine back down to make the countermeasures more likely to succeed, I escaped the missile as it exploded right behind me. I heard a frustrated grunt and tried to peer behind me but nothing was sticking out and the lagging from the NVG's wasn't helping matters. Frustrated, I pushed them off my eyes. And then I saw it.

The F-22 was painted a black color and the only way I even saw any of it was the special golden coating of the canopy reflecting the night sky. They only used that edition of the canopy when absolutely necessary, being extremely expensive and having short lifespan before needing replacement. There was not even a glow of the plane's engines behind it, having no problems keeping up with me.

"Resourceful," the man said in what I guessed would be a mix between amusement, respect and frustration. "But ultimately futile." Before much more could happen, I pulled the throttle back down and engaged one of the few things my plane had his didn't. An air-brake. I quickly slowed down and while the pilot behind me could react fast enough, his plane couldn't for all of its technology. Within a second, the tables had turned, but I wasn't sure how long I could keep them that way. A grunt of frustration came over the radio but I had to ignore it and keep my eye on the only thing I could see of this plane. The cockpit. "I am astounded at your skill, junge Mann. Such a waste..." but they were only words now.

I applied full thrust. I had only one chance to get this guy before he speed off out of reach and was able to come in for an unavoidable attack. I opened up my guns and sprayed any where I could that was near the plane, not caring about accuracy in this moment. By some miracle, an engine was struck and ignited in flames. The radar signature showed up and I had no problem spotting the plane now.

"Scheiße" the man said. I may not have been Belken, but I knew I had done something right to get him to utter such a word. My missiles, now with something to lock onto, sounded off their tone indicating a lock. "You may think you've accomplished something today, Staatsfeind. But I assure you, you've only sealed your fate." There was a sudden discharge over the radio not unlike a gunshot and before I could launch my missiles, the plane began to fall all on its own. I tracked the plane to the ground and once it had smashed into the turf, I was bombarded with radio transmissions.

"- US BACK UP!" I heard Chopper yell. I jumped back in my seat in surprise and shivered as the pool of sweat that had accumulated on my back cooled me down rather too quickly.

"We aren't even sure if there is someone for you to-"

"HE'S UP THERE!" Kei yelled at the tower. "He wouldn't leave..." she said much more quietly.

"This is blaze," I began, starting to think I had been what had caused the yelling match. "I'm low on fuel and need to land." The eerie quiet that followed just served to shock me all the more when three people yelled out my name simultaneously.

"There you go!" Chopper yelled back to who I assumed was the control tower. "I told you he was still there!"

"Copy, Blaze. This is tower. We lost you there for a while. Welcome back. Runway 275 is open for your use." I quickly thanked the tower and landed my plane. A storm soon rolled in and the tarmac got that trademark scent as the water came down.

I was met with conflicted faces by the people who knew our situation. On one hand, we had just saved a civilian airport from massive casualties. On the other, we were still suspected of being the cause of said attack. I just ran through the rain to the waiting car without any attention paid to those who were watching, glad to be back with my friends who were in the vehicle with me. After a round of pats on the back and in Kei's case, a punch in the arm, the car began its trip back to Oured. The drive back was silent with occasional glances directed towards each other. We were all concerned about the escalation in hostilities that had occurred today. While the Yuktobanian's hadn't established any foothold in Osea, they had still penetrated deep into the mainland. And then there was the whole thing with the Belken pilot. The war was starting to look like it was going to last longer than any of us wanted it to.

When we arrived at the hotel, I went to my room and collapsed onto my bed in exhaustion. Every sortie we went on now left me drained, not so much because of the physicality of it but because of the thinking I did afterwards. The implications of each of our battles were becoming more and more significant and I couldn't help but feel like Wardog was the key-pin in it all. I sprawled out on my bed, taking advantage of all the room the king sized mattress offered.

**.oOo.**

"Caden?"

"Yeah, Vince?" I replied to my classmate, trying to hide the irritation in my voice. We were working on a group project, the Osean education system's way of ensuring everyone passed required classes by forcing intelligent and dutiful students to work with underachievers.

"Could you do that one again? I still don't get it." I couldn't believe it. I had just explained it for the third time. I did a quick scan of the other members in my group. Almost everyone else was nodding their heads in agreement except for Whitney who gave me a sympathetic look as if to say, 'I'm sorry.' We both excelled when it came to conceptual physics. In fact, we pretty much just excelled in physics, period. But currently, the class was attempting to grasp of concept of force vectors on slanted planes, a simple idea if you just broke it down into its components.

"What part didn't you get Vince?" I asked trying to put on a helpful guise to hide the frustration boiling inside.

"Uh... All of it?" He said with a stupid grin. Whitney and I watched as the other three members of the group snickered at the stereotypical display of stupidity masked by humor to hide insecurity. Fight the rage, Caden, fight the rage.

"Mind if I give it a go, Caden?" Whitney asked, saving me from having an outburst at the imbecile in front of me. I just nodded my head to give her the go ahead. She said everything that I had said in almost the exact way I had said it but suddenly...

"Oh, I see." He turned towards one of the other group members as if he were going to convey a secret but said in a voice that wasn't anywhere near the volume of such an action, "Guess I just needed a fellow Osean to explain it in our terms." Both adolescent fools cracked a grin that belonged in an insane asylum. They both stared at me, waiting for a response, a muscle twitch, anything that would show the anger that was just screaming to be let lose. But I remained stoic, burning holes through the paper in front of me that was nearly complete unlike the empty ones belonging to everyone else.

I had myself to blame for this, I suppose. The first week I had been here, the taunting and teasing were so rampant, I lost it before the final class on Thursday. I got into a fight so large that two kids got broken noses and four others got black eyes. I went at it so hard that I didn't realize until it was over that I myself had broken some fingers and got a nice shiner of my own. For two weeks, I was the plague. No one wanted anything to do with me save Whitney who already knew me. Then it came back two fold. Everyone wanted to see me blow up again. Wanted to see me get kicked out. When I finally told my dad about it all he gave me some unexpected advice.

"The best way to stick it to them now is to stay there and rub yourself in their faces. You put yourself in this situation, Caden. Now you got to deal with it." So I made sure everyone got a face full of me. And sure enough, it drove them insane. Almost worth it. Almost. It was times like this though that were the rare exception where I had to be civil and manageable with these people who would love nothing less than to see me go down in a burning blaze that rivaled the sun.

I picked up the pencil that I had placed down on the table when I had been trying to explain the problem. I quickly finished the problem that remained on my sheet and waited for the rest of my group to follow suit, knowing they wouldn't and would instead just talk amongst themselves until the teacher told them to stop and work, which would never happen, or the class ended, which was still thirty minutes away. High school; fun. Whitney finished her sheet and glanced at me as I stared at the board at the front of the class. The teacher was at his desk doing whatever a high school teacher does when they know that today is out of their hands and the best they can do is just contain everyone in one room.

Whitney got up from her seat with her paper in her hands and walked towards my spot at the large lab table and grabbed my own.

"Mind if I turn these in?" she asked kindly, knowing I was a highly volatile bomb looking for an excuse to explode. However, I couldn't stay mad with the attitude she was able to maintain. I took a deep breath and held it for a split second.

"That would be awesome," I exhaled as she gave me a faint smile. She took my paper and walked to the front of the room, gaining some dirty glances from other students in the room who were mad that she had the audacity to flaunt that she had taken the class seriously and wasn't socializing like everyone else. She just placed the two papers next to the teacher who looked up from his monitor for a second smiled mouthed out something and returned to his screen. High school; fun. When Whitney came back, she took one of the many empty chairs that were near me.

"How you holding up?" she asked quietly. I appreciated her discretion but I knew it was wasted on this crowd. Being one of the only people to talk to me, Whitney had committed a form of social suicide. I had heard stories about how, before I got here, Whitney had been one of the queen bees of the school. Now she had become somewhat of a fallen idol for fraternizing with the Usean.

"Why did you do this to yourself?" I asked her. My question obviously caught her off guard.

"What?" she asked with a very confused look.

"Why do you talk to me and hang out with me? Don't get me wrong, I am glad you do, more than you can know, but why did you do it?" She continued to look at me like I was crazy. "I know that you used to be someone to all these people before I showed up. Now they treat you like a step above me, which isn't much. I just can't seem to understand why someone would do that." She stared at me for a little bit with an uncertain look in her eye.

"You know, everyone in this world wants acceptance," she said after a little while. "For a long time, I thought I had to get that acceptance from all of these people," she said as she moved her eyes to indicate the rest of the room. "There are a lot of people who will be stuck that way for the rest of their lives. Looking for acceptance from everyone around them, willing to reject certain people for the larger majority." She looked at me a little longer. "I have rejected people before. It's a horrible feeling and you live with it for a long time, in fact, I don't think it ever goes away. I got tired of rejecting people and decided that I don't want that kind of acceptance." I nodded to let her know I understood.

"I accept you for you," I said after we had been staring at nothing for a while.

"Ditto," Whitney replied.

"And I accept that all of these people are losers for not feeling the same way," I said, bringing a grin to both of our faces.

"Ditto," she said again. "Hey," she said with an upbeat tone that got my attention. "Chuck and I are going out to Taco King for lunch today. You wanna come with?"

"That sounds awesome, but I went with you guys yesterday and I kind of got the feeling that Chuck is getting tired of me tagging along. Besides, I brought my own lunch today, tuna sandwich. Thanks for the offer though."

"If Charles is giving you a hard time-"

"No he's not. Trust me, he's not." I jumped in. "It's just that I think he would like to spend some personal time with you. I mean, I've never been in a relationship, so I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's how the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing works." Whitney gave me the face that told me she wasn't buying it but I countered with one that told her she needed to.

"Fine," she said finally after a solid five second stare. "But next week Monday we will plan on you coming along. No excuses or I'll think you are avoiding me and I'll take it personally."

"Deal," I replied with a smile.

"Hey Whitney," Vince called out. "We need your help again. Just to make sure we did them right, you know?" Without turning her head to the group who was calling for her attention, she rolled her eyes at me to personally let me know how much she detested helping out her fellow classmates before performing the very act. Maybe if she wasn't in a relationship... Nah. We worked as friends. There wasn't any need to complicate it. I turned around on my chair, preferring not to look at the group of peers who were giving me glares as they continued to 'slave' over the 'grueling' assignment.

But when I turned around, I had to blink. And then I had to do it again. She wasn't supposed to be here. Where was here again? I could've sworn I was just at school. Why are my feet wet? Why am I standing now? Where'd the table go? Are those birds? This is a beach. That is water. Over there is Kei. It's warm here, there isn't any hatred. It's nice to lie down in the sand hand in hand. Hand in hand? Yes. Do we work as friends? Can we work as more? Is it worth it to complicate things?

**.oOo.**

The sweat on my body finally woke me up. It had made me so cold that I was torn from my dream and left sitting upright, alone, in my bed at 1038. What was the dream about? I remember school. Chuck? Chuck and Whitney. There was a beach but... the more I focused on my dream, the quicker it faded away, leaving me with nothing but the question as to why I am covered with sweat. What caused that? I need a shower.

I got out of my abnormally long shower and began to browse the channels on the television, stopping on Discovery Planet. A special on lasers. I was just settling in when there was a knock on the door.

"Just a second," I called out getting up from the bed. I reached the door in less than three seconds and opened it up to Chopper.

"Hey, Kid," he said.

"Hey," I said, expecting him to say something more. Apparently, he was waiting for the same thing. We stared at each other before he finally spoke up.

"I took your advice and called the family. They will be here tomorrow morning. I was hoping me and you could do some stuff before they get here." I smiled at him.

"You want us to get our stories straight?" I asked trying to clarify what he meant.

"No. I mean, Yes. I mean... I really do want to spend some time with Caden Irving and not the Captain of Wardog. It also wouldn't hurt if we both knew the right answers to certain questions that may or may not come up if we were to have a dinner with Mrs. Davenport."

"Sounds good Chopper. Did you have any place in mind you wanted to go?"

"Did you know my family owns a restaurant?" he asked dodging the question.

"You own a what?"

"Well, I guess we own a restaurant chain if I'm being precise," he continued.

"Wait, your family owns a restaurant chain?" I asked not believing what I was hearing.

"Yeah, Papa Hut. That pizza restaurant. My great grandpa opened the first one back in '58." I gave Chopper a dumbfounded look. "What?" he asked defensively.

"Chopper, you've got to be rich or something! Why on earth are you here? In the military?"

"Same reason as you, Kid," he responded. "Trying to give back. Trying to serve. There are something's that you can't do with money. One of those things is finding out what it really means to serve. A lot of the time, having that money means that people just try and serve you, so I figured I would turn the tables on that. Besides, I've made better friends here in the military in the last month than my whole life as Mr. Moneybags."

"Fair enough."

"Thank you, now, can we head out or do you want to discuss politics while we're at it?"

"Another time," I said grabbing my jacket that was hanging in the closet. As we headed out I couldn't help but feel I had left something back in the room but Chopper was ushering me along. We stopped in a local Papa Hut and ordered ourselves a nice pizza pie. Once the waiter had left, Chopper got down to business.

"So, my wife, she will probably ask you a lot of questions."

"That's pretty normal isn't it?" I asked. My mom always asked other people what was going on in their lives. Part of me was pretty sure women just fed on that kind of stuff to satisfy their inbuilt nature to gossip. Of course, I never shared that belief with anyone.

"Yeah, it's normal, but she will probably ask some questions that will catch you off guard. I just want you to be prepared, but not look it as to give it away to her that we talked."

"Got it," I said with a grin on my face as I nodded and took a sip of the soda I had ordered.

"Man, I knew I was making this more complicated than it had to be," Chopper said as he slumped into his arms on the table. I reached out and patted him comfortingly on the shoulder.

"Hey, it's cool. Just say what you want and we can sort it out later." He looked up from his position and nodded his head.

"Okay," he started after talking a large guzzle of his own beverage, a beer, of all things. "She'll probably start easy. Where you from, what did you do, that sort of thing. Now, I know for you, those aren't exactly easy but its starter stuff for her. Then she'll graduate you to: Are you seeing anyone. Just know it's not personal or anything, she does it too practically everyone she meets and it's always her third question. Always."

I looked at him with a confused smirk. He in turn raised his eyebrows before continuing.

"Look, kid. You've probably figured out I'm not some run of the mill guy. Only makes sense that I found a woman who complements that nature." I just nodded my head as he continued. "So, after she asks that, it's a free for all. No holds barred. Everything and anything is a topic for discussion. You remember what brand of tooth paste you use? Memorize it. Have you ever seen a citizen of the Nordlands from 1936 go whaling? Watch a documentary. It's actually pretty cool, but still." I chuckled as Chopper continued his list of obscure things his wife must've talked about at some point. I was starting to look forward to this encounter. It would be... entertaining.

"What about your daughter?" I asked interrupting Choppers monologue. He stopped in his tracks and his face softened at the thought of his precious.

"She'll be asking questions too, just ones that are a lot more fun to answer," he said not looking at anything in particular. Our pizza came to our table and we both partook of the crazy goodness it offered. The rest of the conversation was just Chopper asking the questions he had just told me his wife would. Practice I guess.

"How disappointed will your daughter be when I don't have red hair?" I asked.

"That was why I was hoping you would share a beer with me," he said.

"Um..."

"After we're done here, I was hoping we could go to that salon next door and get a slight change up to your hair."

"Chopper," I began.

"It's only for a day or two and I'll make sure they use the stuff that comes out in that special wash. I really hope you'll do this. If not for me, then for sweet, innocent Vicki. Come on, Kid, will you do it?" I looked at the man who had resorted to using the 'for the children' card on me. Dammit.

"Fine." I said. I knew I would be completely out of regs and would look like the weirdest man alive but with the way Chopper was asking, he could've made me show up in a clown costume. After we had finished our pizza, we walked out of the shop and went two doors down to the salon. Chopper did all the talking as I sat down into a chair. The woman who was dying my hair thought I was to greatest man alive for doing all of this for a child. I was just glad Kei wasn't here to see the woman gushing all over me. Who knows how my hair would've been turned red then.

We walked back to the hotel together. Even in the dimming light of the evening, I could just feel everyone starring at my bright red hair, judging me. I just wished someone would call me out on it instead of their silent disapproving stares. When we got into the hotel Chopper turned to me.

"Thanks for doing this. I knew you were a cool guy but," He stopped a moment and looked off somewhere before returning his attention to me. "You're one of the best people I know, Caden. Not many people would do this for me. Hell, the fact you're my superior officer just makes it that much better. Thanks."

"Don't make me regret it," I said to him as he walked off. He just laughed a little as he boarded the elevator. When I reached my door, my stomach dropped. I remembered what I had forgotten earlier today. Chopper rushed me out of my room so fast that I had left my key card behind. And that was the precise time Kei decided to show up.


	16. -Answering Questions-

**Answering Questions**

"That's a new look. Did Perrault okay that?" Kei asked with an amused tone in her voice.

"Uh, hey," I said in a way that was the polar opposite of smooth. I ran my fingers through my now bright red hair. "No, I'm pretty sure that if the Colonel sees me like this, I'm done for," I finished.

"You okay? You look," she studied me before finishing with "distracted."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said pulling my hands from my hair and gesturing at the door. "I just forgot my key card this morning when Chopper and I went out."

"That's no good," she said unconvincingly, a growing smile coming across her face as if she was scheming something. "You should see if they'll give you a spare at the front desk. Here, I'll come with you. I wanted to talk to you anyways." Without waiting for me to respond, she ran off to the stairs leaving me slightly confused by my door.

"Weirdo," I muttered as I walked after her. I got down to the lobby considerably slower than Kei did and found her waiting casually in one of the chairs near the front desk for me. Too casually. Currently, there wasn't anyone at the desk so I rung the cool little bell and patently waited. After a couple of seconds, a lady came out from a room behind the counter. She quickly glanced at Kei and then me. From the moment she had come out and set eyes on me she acted... off.

"How may I help you, sir?" the woman asked. I glanced around the lobby. All throughout the military training I received, we were taught how to recognize strange behavior and instinctively suspect the worst. I leaned in towards the woman and lowered my voice.

"Ma'am, is everything alright?" She looked at me like I was going crazy, which was probably the rational reaction for how I was behaving. A man with red hair asking if everything was alright probably wasn't a normal occurrence for this woman. "You just seem, stressed," I added. To the woman's credit, she held my gaze unfalteringly, although the same couldn't be said about her voice.

"Everything is okay here sir, now, is there something I can help you with?" I straightened back up and glanced at Kei to be surprised by her reaction to all this. It looked like she was using all her willpower not to laugh. Weirdo. I returned my attention to the lady at the counter.

"Can I get another key for room 324?" The woman stole a glance at Kei and flashed a quick smile herself before turning her attention back to me.

"I'm sorry sir, what was that?"

"I've misplaced my key for room 324. Could you provide me with a temporary one?" The woman false started her response twice before she got any traction with her words.

"I'm sorry sir, but our key card machine has been having issues. It'll be fixed in the morning, but I'm afraid you're out of luck for tonight. We're terribly sorry for any issues this may have caused and we are willing to give you a complimentary breakfast to compensate for your troubles." Her response was so well rehearsed. Like she had been waiting for me. No, that's just paranoia. I couldn't have been the only one who lost their card. She must've said this a thousand times already. Right?

"Thank you," I said, putting my hand out to receive the card she was offering me as compensation. Kei had regained control of herself and looked at me, waiting to hear how it went.

"Why did you get so close to her?" she asked as I walked up to her, a hint of something else other than pure curiosity in her voice.

"She was acting like she was in distress," I said. "Thought someone was threatening her or something." The color drained from Kei's face for a moment before filling all too fast with color.

"Did she say anything?" she asked quickly looking at the woman behind the counter who was watching us. When we both looked at her, she realized she was staring at guests and jumped a little before retreating into the room behind the counter.

"No..."

"Good," Kei said quickly. I looked at her confused. "You know, because if she had, everyone might be in trouble and all." I just slowly nodded, still a little confused. "So I saw her hand you a card, but it didn't look like one to your room." I held up the flimsy orange card.

"Yeah, it's a complimentary breakfast card." I looked at the card with a little more scrutiny. The expiration date was last year. "An expired breakfast card." Now I knew something was up. If it had been a legitimate problem, there was no way I would've gotten an expired card.

"I'm sure it was a mistake," Kei said trying to draw my attention away from the strange circumstances that were beginning to pop up left and right. "You still need a place to stay for the night thought," she said in a mock thoughtful voice. "Well, I had something to talk to you about anyway, why don't you stay in my room for tonight, you know, while they're fixing the machine."

"How did you know the machine was broken?" I asked. Something wasn't adding up here...

"I'm only assuming that the machine was having issues. Why else wouldn't you be able to get a key card?" I thought for a moment. She had a point... "Come on, are you going to keep questioning everything or are you going to try and find another person offering you a place to stay for the night?" Already knowing my answer before I knew it myself, she began walking off towards her room leaving me to stare at the useless orange card in my hand. I began following her up the stairs to her room but not before taking one last glance at the service counter to see the woman watching us ascend the stairs. Sensing I saw her again, she darted to the room that hid her again. Strange. I met up with Kei at the door and she opened it up for us both.

"So," she began as she flipped a switch in the hallway illuminating us both in the yellow glow of the incandescent light. "I've been meaning to talk to you about our... outing, at the diner." Crap. Maybe Chopper or Grimm would be willing to let me bunk with them for the night. "It didn't go the way I wanted," she finished, getting my attention. What did that mean?

"How did you want it to go?" I asked intrigued. She sighed and walked to the edge of her bed and flopped onto it, staring at the ceiling and nothing else.

"Just before that lady came, I was... I felt..." she sighed heavily again. "Good," she finished softly. "I haven't felt that good in a long time. But it's strange, because, the only time I start to feel good like that is when you're around." I was starting to feel uncomfortable just standing in her door way. I moved to a chair next to a desk. "And then that lady came and asked if we were a couple. At first, I was... I don't know. I mean, I've thought about it before. What we are. We are more than fellow soldiers. You're closer than that with everyone in our squad. But... I don't know. Then you go and give that halfway answer with her. I would've been fine if you said 'no.' At least then I would know I've been imagining whatever is going on between us. I knew you wouldn't say 'yes,' you're not the guy to claim something that isn't true. But for as much as I expected the answer you gave, I was still..."

"Touchy?" I offered. She rolled her head at me from her laying position.

"Defensive," she said flatly. "Caden, I need to know what this is. I need a real answer to that nosy old lady's question." I began to inhale to tell her exactly what I felt about all of it, but she stopped me. "Not now, though. I need to know you've thought it over with all of this new insight. I'm tired of all the signals being lost on you." Signals? Lost on me? Seeing my face from her resting position, she muttered with a playful smile that carefully hid her audible frustration. "You're so dense." Dense? "I want to know what you really think of me, knowing what I think of you."

I was beginning to draw a breath to answer her but she stopped me before I could get a word out.

"I don't want your answer now. I need to know you've thought this through. But I want it soon. Okay?"

"Alright," I said slowly. I got up and began to walk to the closet to pull out the cot that was stored there along with some linen when I looked back at Kei to see her with a confused face. "What?" I asked.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm grabbing the cot to sleep on. What is it with you and cots? I am sleeping here tonight right? That's what you offered."

"Right. The cot. I forgot about that," she said as her face began to shade.

"So you offered for me to spend the night with you when you forgot you had a cot?" I began a mild laugh. "Were you going to give me a chair?"

"Just set up your damn cot," she retorted in a somewhat frustrated tone to hide the embarrassment she was clearly feeling. I guess she didn't see the humor in that. But seriously, what had she planned in her head? She used the bathroom to get ready for bed while I went straight to the shelter of the sheets of the cot. When she came back out, she wasted no time in getting into her bed.

"Good night, Nagase," I said to her as she turned off the reading lamp next to her bed.

"Good night, Caden." Within twenty minutes, we were both out.

Kei had woken up before me and had taken a shower before shaking me awake. Correction. Kicking me awake.

"Let's move it." she said as she looked at my groggy state before adding in, "Captain," mockingly.

"Ow," I said rubbing myself. "You know, if command heard about half the things I go through with this squad..."

"Yeah, but you'll never tell them," she said as she approached the door to leave. "Go ahead and get cleaned up. Chopper's family will be here in half an hour. We're going on a pick-nick at some National Park nearby." Without sticking around for me to complain about how little time she left me to get ready, she left. I got up and took a quick shower and shook the wrinkles out of my clothes before heading down to the lobby to wait with Kei for everyone else. When I got there, I saw her speaking to someone who looked very familiar.

"That key machine working yet?" I asked the receptionist before she saw me. She shirked with a high tone that made me jump. After she regained her composure, she addressed me more professionally.

"Ah, hello sir. Yes, in fact it is, the repair man did a remarkable job if I do say so myself."

"Uh-huh," I said disbelievingly, looking at her and then Kei who changed from an already red tint to a deep crimson. "Hope you two had fun catching up," I said to Kei as the woman went into her back room to get a replacement key.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said as she looked around the lobby evasively.

"Right," I replied. The woman came back with the key and handed it to me with a smile and a face that wasn't quite as red as Kei's but was still different from her previous complexion. She offered no words as I took it and sat down to wait for Grimm and Chopper. It seemed like Kei was just about to say something when Grimm came down almost immediately followed by Chopper.

"Hey, you guys ready to meet my family?" Chopper asked. He was clearly anxious to see his loved ones. I began to wonder how long it had been since he had seen them. Before I could ask the question though, a young girl, no older than six, came running up to him with her honey colored hair streaming behind her as she gripped his legs with a ferocity that could only come from a child. The welling of emotion I had felt at the park two days ago came back, but I suppressed it successfully this time, not wanting to explain how things kept getting in my eyes. Not long after the child came, a woman with blond hair came towards Chopper. They just looked at each other for a moment, Choppers hand messing with the child's hair absent-mindedly as he looked at who I presumed to be his wife. After what must've been an eternity for the two, they embraced, sandwiching the child between them. Kei and Grimm and I just looked at the reunited family for a while before they came back to the here and now.

"Guy's," Chopper began, unbinding himself from his wife but still holding her hand. "Meet Raenay and Vicki."

"Hey," five people said at once as we all greeted each other.

"The Van is waiting out front," Raenay said to Chopper.

"It's super big, daddy. But mommy says we can't keep it," the child said.

"Well, let's get to it, then," Chopper said to us all. We followed the Davenport family out to the waiting van. Kei and I took the back most seats, Grimm took one of the aisle seats with Vicki sitting across from him to his right and Chopper and Raenay sitting up front. "Everyone in?" Chopper asked.

"Yes," Vicki answered enthusiastically. I could see Chopper grin in the rear-view mirror as he pulled away from the hotel. We sat in silence for what seemed to be only ten seconds before the child turned around and faced me directly. "Are you Blaze?"

"Yeah, but you can call me Caden if you'd like," I replied to the girl.

"Nah," She said simply. "And you're Edge?" she asked turning to face Kei. I turned to face her as well. She was wearing her 'detective' coat again but also had a grin from the girl's candidness.

"Yeah, I'm Edge. You must be Vicki."

"Yup, that's me. And that's my mommy," she said pointing towards the woman in the passenger seat. "And that's my daddy who's driving." Kei's smile only got wider as the child talked. Vicki looked at Grimm who knew what he had coming. Or so he thought. "Where's your bow?" Grimm's smile turned into confusion.

"My what?" he asked, not sure if he had heard right.

"Your bow? That you shoot arrows with?" Grimm looked at me and then Kei for help but we were just as clueless as he was.

"He had to leave it at the hotel, baby girl," Chopper said. The three of us turned to him to hear what he had to say on why his daughter thought Grimm should have a bow. "Archer isn't allowed to carry his bow with him all the time."

"Oh," Vicki said. She turned back around in her seat and began to stare at my hair. "Is it still hot?" she asked in a strained whisper.

"Nah," I said, giving her a face that made her giggle a bit. "I made sure to cool it down a lot for today." The kid gave me an unbelieving face.

"You can control it?" she asked amazed. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kei wincing her eyes shut and her hand covering her mouth to attempt to hide the muffled snorts of laughter she was producing.

"You bet," I said, keeping Kei in my peripheral vision.

"Is it okay if I touch it?" she asked wide eyed, tentatively putting a hand out before drawing it back towards her chest.

"Sure," I said ducking down and forward to give her access to my hair. After a second, of nothing happening, she spoke up again.

"I'm scared," She whispered into my ear, giving me goose bumps for a moment. I sat back up, seeing her face contorted with apprehensiveness. Suddenly, Kei put her hand through my hair to prove to the little girl that she wouldn't get hurt.

"Huh," Kei said as if she were surprised with something. "It's not hot at all." Vicki gave Kei a curious glance before a big grin came to her face.

"Let me feel it!" she said anxiously. I put my head back down for her and sure enough, my scalp was explored by a pair of tiny hands. "Wow," she muttered. "You're right, it's not hot!" she said to Kei in an excited voice. After she was done which was no short time later, I sat back up again. I looked at Kei and she looked at my hair before almost laughing again.

"What?" I asked her as Vicki began to interrogate Grimm about his bow.

"Your hair is a mess," she said. I just rolled my eyes and sat back in my seat. The drive was about an hour northward to the very tip of the Oured Peninsula. Some point during the short ride, I had managed to fall asleep. I awoke when the vehicle stopped and people began getting out. We were at the entrance of the National Park. It was a wooded area up on top of a mesa with lots of pine trees and fresh cool mountain air that still had a cool morning mist about it. When I got out, I went to the back of the van to give Chopper a hand carrying the pick-nick supplies while Vicki grabbed her moms and Kei's hands and started skipping away with Grimm in tow.

"Thanks for giving me this idea, Kid," Chopper said to me as he pensively stared after the departing group.

"Thanks for taking us along," I replied as I shut the back of the van. We walked a bit before we came to a designated area for eating that had tables and even a little grill. There were bear proof dumpsters nearby for any trash and a small building I assumed was a restroom as well.

"Nice to know not all my tax money goes to buying stuff for the military," Grimm said as he took a seat at one of the tables. Kei and Raenay put a table mat over the top of Grimm's selected table and Chopper and I began to set out the food. Now that Vicki had asked all the questions she had for Grimm, she had turned on Kei and was asking her everything from what her favorite kind of yogurt was to how many different cat breeds she could name. When Raenay finally said it was time to eat, Kei looked at the other woman thankfully before stuffing her mouth with food to avoid another question. I grinned as she struggled to put rest of her over-sized bite of ham sandwich into her mouth. She just gave me the stink eye.

"So Caden," Raenay began coyly. "Chopper's told me a whole lot about you. Is it true you're from North Point?" I looked at Chopper while he took a bite out of his sandwich. He returned my gaze with a wink. So it began.

"It is, in fact, true," I told her. "I was born back in '87. Was there for the Ulysses event and the Usean Continental Wars." I thought round one did pretty good, and by her nod of approval, it seemed she agreed.

"The Ulysses event," she began in a thoughtful tone. "It's been a long time since I've thought about that. I'll have to ask you about that later but Alvin has always been a little sketch on how you two first met. Care to clarify?" I again glanced at Chopper. He hadn't prepared me for this one and the look on his face told me he hadn't been expecting it either. I stole a look at Kei too. She was just as much a part of this story as I was; however, she was occupied entertaining Vicki alongside Grimm.

"Well," I began, trying to buy time. "It's a funny story really. Me and Kei had just gotten to the base, no more than an hour or two ago." Kei looked up from what she was doing at the mention of her name. "I had just gotten back from a grilling with the Base Commander, and not the kind with good food mind you, and we were both eating... I forget what it was, but anyways, we were eating and in comes Chopper looking for someone. Of course when he sees two new people, he has to great them. So he comes over and takes a chair right as we are eating, making us both feel very out of place. Then he says-"

"'Hi, I'm Chopper. Nice to meet you. Who are you guys?'" Kei interjected. I looked over at her and then at Chopper who was mouthing, 'thank you,' to Kei. She just nodded subtlety to him as Raenay switched her gaze between all three of us.

"Right," She drawled slowly. "And I'm supposed to believe this guy acted like that the first time he saw you two." I glanced at Kei who was nodding so I picked up the action. "Alright," she said. "I'll let you bend the truth on that one, but this next one you've got to swear to answer truthfully." Crap. The third question. Chopper told me what her third question always was. I thought I would be ready to answer it but I knew I couldn't after last night. I needed a distraction. Look. Cup. Liquid. Idea. Spill.

"Oops," I said as I reached for my cup and 'accidentally' knocked it over.

"Oh my," Raenay said as she got up from her seat, with most everyone else following suit. "For an Ace fighter pilot you sure can be clumsy on the ground."

"I'm sorry," I said. The only thing that got wet was my own paper plate and sandwich. After using almost all the napkins to get the table dry again, we resumed our meal.

"Blaze," Vicki asked after she had finished chewing a piece of her sandwich. "Can I ask you a question now?"

"Sure you can," I told her. Any question she had would be better than the third question from Raenay.

"Where is your kid?" she asked. Wait. What?

"Uh... I don't have a Kid." I told the little girl who was looking up at me with expectant eyes.

"Why?" I cleared my throat in an attempt to get the uncomfortable out. It failed.

"I'm not married to anyone." I replied.

"My daddy and mommy weren't married for me," she replied in a mater-of-fact tone. I looked over at Chopper for an explanation on why she knew so much about her own circumstance.

"We value honesty," Chopper said when I gave him my silent question.

"Like what color hair people have?" I asked him. He smiled slyly.

"Huh?" Vicki asked.

"Nothing," I said as I brought my gaze back to her. I thought about how to explain why I didn't have a child while her parents did that didn't involve a traditional line of thought. "Vicki, the reason I don't have a kid is because I haven't decided that with a significant other." She raised an eye brow. Right. Six. "It takes two people to have a kid. Right now, it's just me." There. Way to skim over the details. That should do it.

"Okay," Vicki said as she took another bite of her sandwich. Kids. So easily satisfied. That, or I was just confusing her. Both possibilities.

"Was it Kei?" Raenay asked Kei politely. When Kei nodded, Raenay proceeded. "How about you, where are you from?"

"Well, I've lived in Osea for most of my life. I was born same year as Caden though, younger by three days."

"Wow," Chopper's wife replied. "Only three days?" Kei just nodded. "That's crazy."

"Tell me about it," Kei said looking at her plate, her eyes flicking up at me once or twice.

"Grimm, how about you? Where are you from?" This would be news to me. Grimm and I hadn't hung out much before. It wasn't like we were avoiding each other or anything, it was just that he was always off doing things himself.

"I was born in Belka," he replied to everyone's shock. Before another question was asked though, he continued. "My family moved out in '92 when I was only two. Got a lot of flak for a while until my older brother joined the Osean Army during the Belken War at 18. People were a little less inclined to question our national ties after that." Everyone at the table was silent for a moment while we all processed this new information on the youngest member of Wardog.

"What's flak?" Vicki asked in a forced whisper, breaking the silence.

"Bad stuff, honey," Raenay answered.

"Oh." Vicki went straight back to eating. Yup. Easily satisfied. Conversation resumed to a normal tone as we all finished up eating. The rest of the day was spent on a hike where I was used as a child carrier for Vicki as she tugged and pulled at my hair from her position atop my shoulders. I didn't mind it though. The occasional glance that Kei shot at me when she thought I wasn't looking was worth every strand of hair I lost.

When we came back to the van, Vicki was a little upset that we were done but I could tell she was getting tired. We began picking up the area of our mess and that was when I noticed Kei slip off unnoticed to everyone but me.

"You ready to go?" Chopper asked before he looked around and noticed Kei was missing. "Hey where did Nagase go?" he asked.

"I'll go look for her," I told him as he scanned around. "You go ahead and get everyone ready to go."

"Okay, but make it snappy. Vicki is starting to fall to sleep." I nodded my head and walked over the hill Kei had disappeared over. That was when I was introduced to a large lake surrounded by flocks of geese. I looked for Kei and saw her in her brown coat on the edge of the lake. When I was about twenty feet away, I made sure she knew I was coming to keep from scaring her but she didn't turn around to see who I was, instead, she just continued to look out on the water. I came up to her right side and sat down cross-legged about two feet away from her. We didn't say anything for a while, we just sat there in the coolness of the wet ground. The Geese on the water had black heads and necks with brown bodies. They were unique in the fact that they had a white mark that went from one cheek to the other that continued under their chins.

"They mate for life," Kei said out of the blue.

"What?" I asked, facing her for an explanation.

"These birds, Wellow Geese. They only mate once in their lives," she clarified.

"Oh," I said turning back over towards the lake. Most of the birds seemed to be paired off and swimming or resting together. I began to think about what I had been meaning to tell Kei for a while. Not just since our 'date' two days ago or our conversation last night but for a while before that. I decided to pull my own random piece of knowledge I knew about the birds.

"Did you know it takes a while for the male to realize a female has chosen him?" I asked Kei. She was quiet for a long while before she looked up at me with a faint confused smile and tear streaks. She sniffled before she spoke

"What?" she asked with her voice cracking.

"These birds, Wellow Geese. When a female chooses her mate, she will stick by him until he realizes she's chosen him," I said warmly.

"Oh," she said as she scooted closer and rested her head on my shoulder to look out on the lake with me. I smiled at the closeness we were having without anyone to read into it.

"Kei?" I asked after a while.

"Yeah?" she responded without moving from her spot.

"Are you my Goose?" I felt her laugh a little as she moved her head slightly to look up at me.

"You calling me a bird?" she asked with puffy brown eyes and a slight grin.

"I'm only asking if you're my bird," I replied. She returned her gaze back to the water. After a couple more moments, she nodded her head which was still resting on my shoulder. It felt like something had been lifted off of me despite that head there and the world had become a better place with that simple motion. We sat there for a long time but for me, it wouldn't have been long enough unless it was forever.

"I guess we should head back," Kei said. She didn't move from her spot though.

"Yeah, before they come looking for us," I finished. I didn't move from my spot either.

"Caden," she said, "we need to move sometime."

"I know," I replied taking another deep breath. "I just wish it didn't have to be right now." She suddenly reached up with her hand to grab the back of my head and turned it towards her face. She only kissed me for a moment but it was the most sensory filled moment of my life up to that point. I felt my hair rise up from my neck, sending goose bumps down my arms and legs. My eyes instinctively closed and the only sound I could hear at the moment was the sharp intake of air we both took. But it was all over in a moment as she quickly stood up and looked over me as I came back to the now dull world.

"That should get you moving," she said, A playful grin on her face as she turned around to high tale it back to the van. I was dumbfounded. It had been so easy. All this time spent thinking instead of feeling. I got up and walked after Kei, knowing Chopper would be wondering what had gone on to make Kei so... energetic.

When we got into the vehicle I could tell everyone was pretty wiped. My suspicions were confirmed when we were no more than two minutes down the road and the little girl was asleep. I was well rested from the trip up so I had no plans on falling asleep. Grimm and Raenay, however, joined in Vicki's peaceful slumber.

I was looking out the window on my side of the van when I felt another hand make contact with mine. I looked and saw Kei reaching for my hand. I looked up at her face and saw a warm smile that made me want to lean over and kiss her again. But Chopper was still awake. And was still Chopper. So I took her hand and held it the rest of the 45 minuet drive, knowing that the decision to 'complicate' things between us was the right one.

When the van was back at the hotel and we were all out of the vehicle, Chopper began to say goodbye's to his family when an idea popped into my head.

"Hey, Chopper, why don't you and Raenay go have some... private time. We can look after Vicki for a while." Chopper looked at his wife who was looking at him. Then they both looked at us and Vicki who was jumping up and down at the prospect so spending some time with the interesting people her father had described.

"You sure, Kid? I wouldn't want you to be overloaded or anything-"

"Don't worry about it Chopper," Kei said from my side. "I'll make sure to keep them all in line," she said to Raenay more than her husband. She seemed to be a little more at ease after that.

"Let's go, Alvin," Choppers wife beckoned as she tugged on his arm to try and drag him towards the van.

"Alright. You take care of her, okay?" Chopper called out.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," I told him as he got into his seat to drive away. I turned back towards the rest of my flight and Vicki after they had disappeared around a turn. "So what do you want to do Vicki?" I asked the child who was jumping up and down with Kei's arm.

"Let's play!" she shouted in delight.

"If it's alright with you Captain, I have a..." Grimm nervously cleared his throat, "...prior engagement for tonight that I'd prefer not to miss."

"That's fine," Kei answered for me. "Blaze and I've got this covered," she told him. He nodded with relief and walked off towards a bus stop.

"Where should we go?" Kei asked me as she let Vicki play with both her arms.

"How about that playground in the park we walked by a couple of days ago?" I suggested, thinking Vicki would enjoy the chance to climb all over something that wasn't another person.

"Sounds good to me. You think Vicki will be up to the walk?" she asked looking down at the little girl.

"How 'bout it Vicki?" I asked the kid as I leaned down to her level. "You want to walk to the park?" The girl looked at me with a very contemplative face for a six year old.

"Is it far?" she asked. I was about to say no when I thought about the distance from a six year olds perspective.

"How about I give you a ride there?" I asked. Almost instantly, she released Kei's hands and jumped up at me. "I'll take that as a yes," I said as I helped her up onto my shoulders. As soon as she was up, she began to mess with my bright red hair again. Kei snickered from behind us as we began to head off towards the park.

"At least it can't get any messier," she commented. As we headed off, she stayed very close to me as if I were a source of heat on the coldest night. I liked how it made me feel. I felt like I was her protector, an unmoving rock in a rushing stream. I also liked how she would occasionally steal a glance at me, all smiles and look away just as quickly. I was captured by the way she looked with a smile on her face and in her eyes.

"Blaze, where are you going?" Vicki asked out of the blue.

"Huh," I said unintelligently as I focused on my path again just in time to avoid running into a newspaper stand.

"Mommy was right, you are clumsy," the little girl chastised. I turned red with embarrassment and hoped that Kei didn't find out what the true cause of my mishap had been.

"There's the park," I said, trying to draw the attention off of me.

"Wow!" Vicki said when she saw the playground. Easily satisfied. When I set her back down on the ground, she almost immediately started playing around. I took a seat on one of the park benches and Kei joined me soon after. We watched Vicki laugh with some of the other kids on the playground and play games.

"This makes me want one of ou... my own." Kei said brokenly. I glanced at her but she made it a point to keep her eyes on Vicki. "Like you had said at the diner, it may be weird to think that far off, but it's oddly comforting."

"I know what you mean," I told her. She looked at me with a surprise on her face. "I think Chopper planted the idea in me a while ago."

"Please, do share," Kei said as she scooted closer with a malevolent smile on her face that I knew she meant nothing by.

"When we had that beach party that you sat out on," I started, looking at her as she smiled and rolled her eyes. "Chopper made it a point to tell me he was married, even though he had already told me it before. This second time though, he told me why 'it was the best decision of his life.'" Kei was riveted to hear more. "He said it was what grounded him." Kei gave me a disbelieving face.

"He said that?" she asked doubtingly.

"Well, he said there was cosmic glue that held everything together and that I needed some of it. He was sort of wasted and I think he was still talking about his love for his wife but he could've just as easily been discussing dough-nuts."

"Okay, I get it. So why do you feel that Chopper planted the idea of having kids in your head?"

"He said I needed something more than flying to ground me. I needed a cause that would make me want to end this war and not perpetuate it. Again, this is my interpretation of a drunken man's ramblings." Kei just snickered and did another quick check on Vicki before returning her gaze to me. It was so hard not to get lost in her eyes. "I figured out that I'm fighting for a chance at this," I said gesturing at the playground and the people around it. "I'm fighting for a shot at a normal family. At least," I added with a smile, "as normal as a family can be with me in it." Kei started laughing a little.

"With a father like you, there's an expectation of anything but normal." We both started laughing as Vicki came up to me and jumped in front of me.

"Can you push me on the swings?" she asked. "Plleeaasseeee..." she added until I said 'okay.' As she sprinted off to one of the swings with me in tow, I glanced back at Kei to see her deep in thought about something. It was the same face she had two days ago when she told me she had been day-dreaming. What was she thinking about?


	17. -Stories-

**Stories**

Before we knew it, we were back at Sand Island. Chopper was glad he had got to spend some time with his family but was sad to say goodbye. I had washed out all the dye in my hair but there were still a couple of stray red streaks here and there. I just hoped that Colonel Perrault wouldn't get close enough to notice them. Me and Kei were still skittish around each other, neither of us sure exactly where we were on the relationship road map. Finally, I had to talk about it with her. I was eating at our window seat of the mess hall, the same one we had ate at the first time we came here, when she joined me.

"Strange to think about how much has changed since the first time we sat here," I started. Kei gave a melodic hum of acknowledgment and agreement that almost distracted me from what I wanted to say. "I think we need to talk," I said to her after a few moments of us eating quietly. She nodded her head but kept it down, not allowing me to see her face. "I do want to... be more with you," I began, earning an appearance of her face. It had no discernible expression anywhere except in her large, hopeful eyes. "But I don't know how," I finished.

"What do you mean?" she whispered quietly.

"This is all new to me," I started. "And we're in the military, the same squadron in fact, not to mention a war. I don't know what I would do normally, let alone under those conditions."

"Huh," she said, although I got the feeling she was just pretending to be stumped with my statement by the way she had a hint of a grin. "How do we expand this relationship?" she mused. Since we admitted our feelings towards each other, Kei had become much bolder around me, revealing a personality that I hadn't seen before yet enjoyed just the same. "You know, this reminds me of a story," she said breaking her contemplative mask and looking at me with a renewed vigor that made me chuckle a bit. "It's about these two people, complete strangers, who became friends, then best friends, then something more than that, in what, a couple of months? All the while, these two were in the same military squadron. AND they took part in every major development of a war that raged around them. Amazing huh? If only we could learn a thing or two from those people?" she finished with a grin. I straightened my face to look at her un-amused.

"Wow," I said sarcastically, a large grin joining hers. "So, we just keep going like nothing has really changed?"

"Oh, something has changed alright," she started with fake seriousness that barely hid her grin. She leaned in towards me while I reciprocated the action. "We don't have to hide what we feel about each other anymore," she said in a whisper that sent chills down my back. She quickly glanced around and continued to whisper, "Though, if it's okay with you, I'd like to try and keep it from notice of the rest of the base."

"Agreed," I told her. I was about to expand on my answer when I noticed someone else coming towards us and leaned back in my chair in an attempt to dispel any suspicion.

"The Colonel would like to start his briefing," the man stated. I nodded and we got up and placed our half eaten meals on the counter then headed towards the briefing room. As soon as we entered, the Colonel grunted before speaking up.

"I will now brief the details of your mission orders. That's all I have to say to you right now, people. If you all really are innocent, than I suggest you prove it out there on the battlefield." With that, the overweight man did the only thing he ever did during the briefings. He pushed a button. Stupid. An over-paid button pusher.

"We have discovered a position of a secret facility in Yuktobania, used to store ammunition," the recorded voice began. "According to our information, the base is located deep in the jungles north of Lake Doma. The facility is massive and contains enough ammunition to supply a Yuktobanian ground division for a week of combat operations. Destroy the stockpile and cut off their front line ammunition supply. Note that we've been getting a lot of attacks from soldiers hiding in the dense jungles with shoulder-mounted SAM's. They are very hard to detect from the air, so stay heads up for sudden attacks from these missiles when flying at low altitude." As the lights came back on, the look of disgust on the Colonels face made me want to punch it off.

"You can all get out of here now. You'll be flying A-10's for this one. Keep it tight up there, you'd better all come back without even a scratch. CAC still has its eye on you, and me, by relation." So that's why he was more sour than usual. Hamilton spoke up as soon as the Colonel left.

"You will leave tonight and be over the mission area by about 0800-0900 local time. I suggest a 2-3 hour power nap before you deploy. Sorry about the conditions but it's like the Colonel said. Command is giving you a chance to prove your worth and innocence in one shot. Apito won you some favors. Do Sand Island proud."

"Thank you, sir," I told the man. Compared to the Colonel, this man was angelic. Chopper thought so too.

"Man, why can't you be where the Colonel is?" he asked in a whine of a tone. Hamilton just smiled and walked out of the office. We followed the man's advice and slept in our flight suits in the common area for about two hours before Pop's came to wake us all up for our sortie. We all rushed our normal wake up cycles and moved to the hangars to launch into the air. We had to keep conversation between us going in order not to fall asleep as we crossed the Ceres Ocean towards Yuktobania.

"So," Chopper began breaking a particularly long pause in our light chit chat. "How was that date, Grimm?"

"What?!" was Grimm's only response before everyone but me began to laugh. If I was hearing right, I thought I could even here some chuckling coming from our AWACS plane. "Who told you?" he asked. I was thoroughly confused now. When had Grimm gone on a date?

"Well," Chopper began as if he were about to state the obvious. "You didn't tell me, and out of the two people in our squadron left, which one do you think has more intuition when it comes to these things?" After a moment of silent contemplation Grimm responded.

"Thanks Lieutenant Nagase," he said sarcastically.

"Hey," she began in mock hurt. "How do you know it wasn't Blaze who told Chopper?"

"No offense to the Captain or anything, but he doesn't seem to be the one out of the two of you who would be able to pick up on signals like that."

"That sounds about right," Kei said, the slightest hint of a teasing tone in her voice. I got an uncomfortable tickle in my throat and grunted into my mike, trying to clear it to no avail. Once again the sky was silent until we came over the mission area of the lush, green, Duga Forests' of central Yuktobania.

"Geez, now they got us turning right back into another battle," Chopper began complaining.

"I'm just glad they're not ordering us to attack a city in retaliation for their retaliation," Grimm said in an exacerbated tone.

"You're a real optimist, you know that?" Chopper half told, half asked Grimm. "Sheesh!"

"This is Thunderhead, cut the chatter," said our over watch said in a tone that told us it was only a halfhearted request.

"Oh, I just wish I could fly somewhere where I didn't have to listen to that voice," Chopper complained again.

"You did, 'til yesterday," Grimm told him.

"Well, I don't wanna listen to that interrogation committee at the capital either!" Chopper exclaimed, saying something that we could all agree with for the first time in a couple of minutes.

"The actual armory is located in an underground shelter," Thunderhead began. "Fire munitions into the tunnel and destroy it from the inside." We were all pretty low to the ground, below 5000 feet, so we could already start to see some of the compound. The area was basically a huge mesa with concrete entrances leading into hollowed out mountain side with small watch towers on the banks of the rivers that encircled some of the area. I spotted one of the first targets.

"Alright," I began getting my flights attention. "We have intel that there are ground troops in the area with SAM's. One of us will approach the target while the others stay behind and take out any enemies that show themselves while the first pilot is on their attack run."

"Sounds like a plan, Kid," Chopper said as he pulled back with the others. I was leading by about 400 yards as I descended to an altitude of 100 feet above the terrain. Almost immediately warning alarms came wailing on telling me I was being painted as a target.

"I'm getting lit up here, get ready for action," I called out.

"Copy that, Blaze," Kei said, worry evident behind her voice. I was only 500 yards away from the target when the first white steak of a SAM came towards me. These missiles didn't have the advanced tracking capabilities of plane launched missiles, but could still be lethal in the right places. That said, I dodged it easily and released one of my eight 500lb bombs.

"Pickle!" I called out as I pulled back up to a 'safe' altitude, out of range of the foot soldiers. No sooner had I reached 2000 feet when I heard a deafening explosion that couldn't have been caused by my bomb alone.

"Good effect on target," Thunderhead announced. I circled around to see a huge fireball that was quickly turning into a thick black smoke.

"Wow," Chopper said unintelligently. "I bet that left a crater as big as those ones on the moon."

"Let's get ready for another line up," I told the team as we spotted another tunnel further off.

The entire day was starting to turn uneventful as we constantly did bombing runs on the concrete structures. But I quickly regretted thinking anything bad about bombing when the radar began to show fast moving signatures inbound.

"I've got four MiG-29's closing in on your position, Wardog," Thunderhead announced.

"Crap," Chopper muttered. "We're all in these stinkin' Warthogs. Did the Colonel do this on purpose?"

"Relax, Chopper," I told him as I personally began to take on his mindset. We were outclassed in maneuverability. But as I continued to think, I began to devise a way to use that to our advantage. "Wardog, drop your altitude to SAM level when being pursued by the enemy planes."

"Great," Chopper muttered. "The Kid's gone off the deep end. I knew it was only a matter of time but-"

"Chopper," Kei quickly shot. I could tell through her strained voice that she was losing her nerve with his snide remarks. "The Captain is trying to give you lifesaving advice. Shut up and take it." There wasn't much dialogue after that for a while. Grimm was the first to break the silence.

"Being spiked by enemies. Dropping to SAM level." I flew towards the young man's position in case my pan didn't work and I would have to intervene.

"Okay, Grimm, just keep your throttle low. The larger heat signature of the MiG's should be enough to make the missiles go after them instead of us." No sooner had I finished explaining my theory when a missile suddenly shot out of the undergrowth. And, like I predicted, instead of going after the A-10 without a single flame coming from its engines, it went straight for the 'friendly' MiG-29, causing the surprised pilot to eject before the missile even made contact.

"Enemy shot down by the... enemy?" Thunderhead announced confused that a plane had gone down without us firing a shot.

"You can credit that one to Blaze," Grimm said as he rejoined our formation. We repeated the tactic with the other three planes. They didn't go down as easily as the first one, but when they chased one of us, the rest would gang up on their six and one of us would fire a missile or gun. The panicked pilots were all shot down when Thunderhead spoke up again.

"HQ reports one more target in the area. Keep your eyes open, Wardog."

"Captain!" Grimm called out a moment later. "I think I see the last target. At your two." I glanced to my right and saw a lone gray tunnel contrasting with the green jungle.

"I can't stand this," Chopper began. "I just wanna get this harness off and jump into a hot tub. I'm tired of sitting on this ejection seat. I just want to go home already. How about you, Kid?"

"We're not done here yet," I said to him in a tired voice that told him I agreed with him on some level, just not on the vocal one.

"That's our captain. You're built a lot tougher than I am." I began to line up the next run I would do. Everyone else was out of ordinance and it was up to me to make the last shot count.

"If we don't fire directly into the tunnel, it's not going to have any effect. Can you do it?" Kei asked.

"No," I replied, sarcasm dripping from the word.

"You're just trying to be humble, aren't you?" She said returning the sentiment. "Okay, I suppose I didn't even need to ask that. I know you can do it." I began my approach with my wing mates following me into the area.

"Blaze, Pickle," I said as I released my payload on the target.

"All armories destroyed. Mission complete. RTB, Wardog," Thunderhead said as I circled around to survey the damage before making a heading back home.

"Well, it's over," Chopper said as he joined up on my wing.

"Mission complete, let's go home," Kei remarked. She sounded like she was deep in thought about something, I knew I was. I glanced back at the billowing towers of smoke we left behind, knowing we were responsible for it all.

"Nagase," Chopper called out, catching on to Kei's somber tune.

"Hmm?" she hummed. Even over the radio, her melodic noise brought about feelings of bliss despite the destruction we were leaving behind.

"You gotta' say that with a little more feeling. At least we get to go home again today, right?" Chopper asked.

"Yeah," Kei replied simply.

"So cheer up a little, huh?"

"You too, Chopper."

"Yeah... I know," he replied as we continued to head back to Sand Island.

When we got back, everyone headed to the mess hall to get some food. We were all pretty hungry and we ate together while discussing everything from the last movie we remembered seeing to how long we thought this war would last, and if we would become a movie. That one excited Chopper the most.

"I just hope they get a person who can represent my good looks," he said with a big grin.

"I think the thing they would have to get right in order for me to be happy is having someone level-headed enough to play the Captain's part," Grimm said matter-of-factly. "Usually, whenever they make movies that have a main protagonist who's as good as our Captain, they come off as big-shots with big heads."

"Well, I know for certain I wouldn't be satisfied with any movie they could make about us," I started. "You guys are all one of a kind, they could do all the casting in the world but unless they got us all to act our own parts, the movie just wouldn't feel right to me."

"That settles it then," Chopper said loudly, bringing all of our attention back to him. "We draft a proposal to some directors about a kick-ass movie we all star in and become rich and famous." After a good round of laughing, I excused myself to go shower. I had sweated a gallon back in the Duga Forest.

Once I was back in my room, I noticed a note had been slipped under my door. I recognized the writing from a previous instance of such a note.

_Meet me on the beach in our usual spot. Don't worry, I won't splash you this time,_

_Kei_

I couldn't help but grin. It seemed we had a usual spot for every location on the base. I put on some clothes and made it outside to our spot on the beach. I sprawled out on the sand and closed my eyes to relax, grateful for being outside of my cockpit for a while, the warm sand heating me up. Even though it was still well above freezing, the approaching winter months were starting to affect the island's temperature.

"Hey," Kei said as she walked up towards me. She took a position next to me and we both sprawled out on the sand.

"So what did you plan on talking about?" I asked.

"Who said anything about talking?" Kei asked.

"I... uh... just assumed-"

"I just wanted to sit here, with you, if that's okay."

"It's fine," I told her.

"Good. I just like being around you. And out here," she started, scooting closer to me until we were side by side. She took my hand in hers and put them into her lap. "Out here, we can do this." I just looked at her as best I could from the position she had put us in. Her eyes seemed to be closed and a smile was playing across her thin lips.

"I like being around you too," I said as I returned my gaze up towards the sky and relaxed. We stayed there for a while, not concerned about the war, about our next mission. The only thing anyone could say we were concerned about was each other's comfort.

"What do you plan on doing after the war?" Kei asked suddenly. I glanced over at her and she still had her eyes closed but her face was scrunched up in thought like she had been trying to figure out what I would say.

"What happened to just wanting to sit here?" I asked playfully. She just elbowed me in the side before I turned my head to give her a kiss on the cheek. The thoughtful face she had before melted into a smile. "To be honest," I said as I returned my gaze back towards the sky, "I'm not quite sure." Kei finally opened her eyes and turned them towards me, silently asking for me to explain. "I've always wanted to fly. I've always wanted to serve too, it's just, I don't like having to kill to fulfill both those duties. I mean, I'll do it, I think I've shown that much, I just don't like doing it, not anymore." I glanced over at Kei who was looking at me with the most intense stare I had ever seen her hold. "You still here?" I asked humorously.

"Yeah," she replied softly, blinking a couple of times. "You still didn't answer my question though," she complained. I just smiled at her insistence.

"I don't know," I answered. "Maybe I'll be a flight attendant," I said humorously. "I'll get to fly and serve and that doesn't involve killing people last time I checked." Kei laughed a little and elbowed me in the ribs again. "What about you," I asked. "What does Kei Nagase plan on doing after the war?"

"Originally, I had planned on becoming a career soldier." She took a deep breath and turned her gaze up towards the sky as well. "Civilian life had seemed so boring, you know? There used to nothing that I really wanted from that kind of life."

"'used to be'?" I asked. She cleared her throat and turned away for a moment before she just continued on without acknowledging my question.

"I think that after this war is done, I'll see where everything stands and go from there." It was good enough for me. We sat in the sand a little longer just watching the clouds pass by. Eventually, Kei spoke up again. "We should probably get back. We don't want people to start thinking things." She started moving and got up but I stayed in the ground. "Hey," she said, softly kicking me in the side. "Get up lazy bones."

"I don't know if I can, Kei," I said in a voice of fake desperation. "I think I need some motivation like last time," I said, unable to keep the smile off my face. Kei's response was almost immediate as she dropped her arms and opened her mouth in astonishment. But she recovered after only a second and quickly bent back down to give me a quick peck on the lips. "What was that?" I asked dissatisfied.

"Motivation," Kei said quickly with a devilish grin flashing across her face before she ran off towards base. Her ruse worked and got me to my feet quicker than a rocket. I ran her down to the doors of the base and was about to teach her a lesson about being a tease when someone else walked out the doors forcing me to drop any plans I had. Kei just flashed me a quick smirk before getting back inside the cool base.

It was almost a whole week before we got our next briefing. The whole day had been a hectic mess with people crossing base and us getting ordered from one room to the next before we were finally directed to a room where we began waiting for the brief. Kei had her book with her as she had been interrupted while she had been writing in it and had been unable to return it to the secrecy of her room. Grimm was the first to notice after me that she was writing in the book.

"Hey... what are you writing there?" Kei looked up at him for a moment before returning her attention back to the book.

"I just can't remember this next phrase..." she said in deep thought.

"Here, lemme see," Chopper said starting to get up from his straddled chair and putting out an arm to grab the book. I almost winced in anticipation for Kei's reaction.

"Hey!" Kei said swatting at his hand with one of her free ones. Chopper pulled back his arm quickly and returned to his seated position looking fearfully at Kei after her brief display of ferocity. As she looked back down at the book she began reading and calm came over her face as she began to recite the words she knew by heart. "The princess couldn't feed the dove that day. She was too sick."

After seeing Kei's reaction to Chopper grabbing for her book, Grimm asked in a very soft and almost terrified whisper, "May I take a look?" But before she could give an answer, Chopper spoke up, clearly having gotten over his momentary lapse in bravery.

"Razgriz. The Demon of Razgriz got her, right?" Now my attention was riveted. I remembered some of the story Mr. Elsworth had told me all those years ago.

"You know the story?" Kei asked Chopper.

"The demon from the north sea!" Chopper said as if everyone would join in with him in song. "I remember, my grandma used to tell me bedtime stories about it. And every time she did, I'd be too scared to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night." Suddenly, everyone found the ground to be a very interesting object of study.

"Ahh..." Kei said as we heard the door open to admit Hamilton. But despite the man's orders and Choppers embarrassing revelation, my interest in Kei's book had increased tenfold. I had long forgotten about Mr. Elsworth's tale, but now that I knew that it was much more universal than I originally believed, I wanted to know more. But now my attention had to come to focus again. Colonel Perrault entered the room and began to clear his thick, turkey neck of a throat.

"Ugh um um, Gentlemen-" but another man suddenly entered the room. He just looked like someone from some big name part of the military by the way he waltzed into the room.

"Excuse me, Colonel. This is an absolutely vital mission to us, as the staff adviser sent from Central HQ for this effort, I'd like to explain it myself." Originally, I thought I wasn't going to like this guy, but after the look the Colonel sent him for a spit second, the man moved to a high spot on my 'heroes' list. "The Osean army is planning a vast offensive with the ultimate objective of occupying the capital of Yuktobania. If this operation succeeds, it'll end the war in a very short order. However, Yuktobania has attacked our beachhead with ballistic missiles from the Hrimfaxi, a Scinfaxi class submersible carrier stationed in the icy waters of Razgriz Straits." For a spit second, all of us glanced at each other. The irony... "Fortunately, our ground force had already completed the attack preparations, so, despite the missile attack, the offensive began as planned. Nevertheless, we must neutralize the threat of another Hrimfaxi missile attack on our ground forces." The man reached over and did the only job that the Colonel had and pressed the projector button. He must have been fuming now.

"We have a single chance to stage a successful air attack on the underwater carrier Hrimfaxi. Our passive sonar has detected a transport submarine that we believe is headed for the Hrimfaxi. We believe the transport sub's mission is to supply the Hrimfaxi with missiles. Based on its course and speed we've calculated its rendezvous time with the Hrimfaxi. By amazing coincidence, it is precisely the same time as the Zero Hour of our ground attack. At this time, the Hrimfaxi will have to surface to restock its missiles. At that exact moment, ingress at low altitude to avoid detection, launch a surprise attack and sink the Hrimfaxi. Once surfaced it only takes the Hrimfaxi one minute to rig for an emergency dive. If your approach is detected, you will only have one minute to complete your attack on the Hrimfaxi." After the lights came back up the man who was one of my new heroes came back to the center of the room.

"Now keep in mind that there won't be any support from Arkbird this time around. This mission rests solely on your shoulders. The entire ground offensive is relying on the first surprise attack, so don't disappoint us. I want you to turn the icy Razgriz Straits into the enemy's graveyard. Dismissed." We all stood at attention as the men left the room leaving me, Grimm, Chopper and Kei alone for a moment.

"No pressure guy's," Chopper said sarcastically before he left to go get ready for flight. When we got to the hangar's, Pop's gave us a very pleasant surprise.

"Hey, Blaze. You ready to sink a sub?"

"I love how that sounds so casual coming from you, Pop's," I said as I walked into the hangars and stopped suddenly to gawk at the planes in front of me. They were our F-18's, but they were loaded to what must've been their max payload. It seemed the whole under-wing of each plane was strapped down with ordinance.

Pops chuckled a bit before saying, "One of the advantages of working directly with Central HQ is getting primo ordinance. Don't get used to it." He patted me on the back and left the Hangar, his job done.

"Caden?" Kei asked as she walked past Pop's and into the hangar with me. She followed my gaze to the strapped down planes. Then she brought her gaze back to me. "You've got to be kidding..." she said as she walked off towards her plane clearly not as impressed as I was.


	18. -That Really Happened-

**That Really Happened**

We got up into the air shortly after that and were heading north towards the polar circle for the mission. Along the way, we were topped off by a tanker aircraft before we dropped down to our infiltration altitude.

"Wardog, this is Thunderhead, stay at low altitude and fly towards the submarine fleet. You are restricted from flying above 1000 feet. We can't risk having our surprise attack detected."

"I'm getting chills," Chopper said as we approached the target. "This northern sea is where the Demon of Razgriz came from."

"Hold your chatter," Thunderhead said stopping Chopper from talking any further. "Commencing comm. out procedures shortly. Maintain radio silence."

"Guess I'll cut off the radio and try talking to myself," Chopper said before we all cut our transmissions. We all continued on course, everyone staying close enough together to communicate with hand signals from our cockpits if we needed to. Suddenly, there was activity coming from Choppers plane and before any one of us knew what he was doing, Chopper launched a missile. I followed the projectile until it made impact with a small sub no more than a mile out. I looked at Chopper's plane and he was signaling everyone to reengage our radio. I tuned in to his voice as it came back over the radio.

"Awesome, we totally surprised 'em! We can talk now, right?" Thunderhead was the one to break the news to him.

"DAMIT CHOPPER! That wasn't the Hrimfaxi! Didn't you look at the ship identification chart?!"

"What?!"

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Michell, the adviser to HQ. That picket submarine just sent off an enemy detection notice. The Hrimfaxi's going to dive in one minute. Attack immediately!"

"Enemy planes! Halt all resupply operations!" someone over the radio shouted. It wasn't anyone of us and I soon realized that we were picking up enemy transmissions again.

"Enemy planes? We're still in the middle of our mission!"

"Dammit! How did they smell us out?!" Just then, I was able to see the submarine. It was just as big, if not larger, than the Scinfaxi.

"30 seconds to Hrimfaxi dive," The HQ advisor said. I punched it on my throttle and I shot ahead of our still tight formation. I armed one of my free fall bombs and lined up a shot. The bomb fell towards the sub that was in the ice coated water.

"Damage status on enemy sub unknown!" Kei shouted as my bomb made impact. A moment later, Chopper told us the bad news.

"Those bastards are diving!" We suddenly picked up more radio chatter from what sounded like the Yuktobanian's Central Command.

"This is Submarine Squadron Command. The enemy is undertaking a large-scale offensive. Attack the enemy forces with long-range missiles from the Hrimfaxi. Urgent! Transmitting target."

"This is Hrimfaxi," a nervous sounding sailor said. I couldn't tell if he was nervous because of what he was about to say or because he was new on the job, but either way, he had a shaky voice. "We cannot comply. We're unable to launch missiles underwater due to battle damage." So we had done significant damage on our surprise run.

"What is the point of your existence if you don't fire now?!" the Submarine Squadron Commander said, obviously infuriated. "They're penetrating our defensive lines as we speak! Hurry up before they overrun our allies!"

"Emergency surface!" someone else on the Hrimfaxi said. "Grab on to something! Once we break the surface, launch the missiles and unmanned drones!" Then, from my altitude, I was the water start to bulge just before the front end of the massive submarine busted through, breaching the water like one of those videos of whales.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Michell, the adviser to HQ. I'm getting your info in real-time from our tracker satellite. Time your attacks to hit the Hrimfaxi when it surfaces. Sink it before it deals any damage to our ground forces with its missiles." We began to circle around to start a run on the enemy sub. That was when they launched their first volley of unmanned drones and the radio suddenly lit up with chatter from the enemy.

"Come on, come on! The enemy's gonna attack any minute now!"

"Good thing there's no big bird shooting at us from the sky like before!"

"What a bunch of idiots. They think they're heroes or something. Let's shoot 'em all down and show the enemy Captain whose boss!" At that, I noticed Kei's plane start to pull ahead of formation a little. The sky suddenly lit up with thousands of rounds of anti-aircraft fire from the combined power of four subs that were surfaced. The small black super maneuverable drones the sub had launched also became a problem as they started darting around at inhuman speeds.

"I've never fought an air battle in this kind of weather before," one of the enemies on the ground said.

"Who cares how cold it is?!" another shot back. "You call yourself a Marine?!"

"I guess we don't have to worry about our guns overheating..." another added in.

"Wardog," I said addressing my flight, "let's deal with some of these escort subs before we get too involved with the Hrimfaxi."

"Copy that Blaze," Kei said as she began to pull impressive maneuvers to target one of the subs through all the enemy fire, weaving through the pillars of bullets that few around her.

"Yeah, you got it, Kid," Chopper said as he pulled off with Grimm following him. We began to target individual subs that were acting like pesky flies during a hike. I pulled up and away from the battle trying to attract the UAV's that were driving me nuts.

"Leonid 7 just took a direct hit!" one of the submarines called out. I swiveled my head around and saw Kei coming out of a dive with a giant fireball below her. These subs must've been carrying quite the munitions payload because the sub seemed to blow itself apart.

"Damn," one of the other subs called out. "These targets are moving faster than they do in training!"

"Calm down!" another person called out to them. "Don't rush your shots!"

"Lost contact with Leonid 10!" another enemy called out. I peered over at Grimm and Chopper to see them pulling apart from each other with tracers following their paths. Below them, another fireball was spreading across the icy cold black water.

"Hrimfaxi, why haven't you fired yet?!" the Submarine Squadron Commander asked.

"We are currently dealing with enemy air units. They are forcing us to fire our anti-aircraft guns in such volume that we can't launch a missile without our own fire hitting it."

"How many planes they got up there?" the sub commander asked contemplatively. "They must be out in force to be causing such difficulty." There was a break of silence before the man spoke up again. "Right?" I began to climb higher and higher, the drones following without a second thought. But once we reached 10,000 feet the abominations stalled out, their small engines not built for fighting at such high altitudes. It was a nice little refresher in precise gun control to take them out.

"There are four planes, sir." I could tell that the guy in charge of Hrimfaxi's communications wasn't having a good day.

"FOUR PLANES?! DEAL WITH THEM AND FIRE ON THE ENEMY!"

"Yes, sir!" the man replied almost immediately. "All hands, take your positions! Make your country proud! Don't disgrace this ship!"

Suddenly, the guy from our HQ spoke up again. "What are you doing?! Attack, you idiots! Are you just gonna let them destroy our ground forces?!" Even though it was a pointless gesture, I raised my eyebrows at the man's furry. The Hrimfaxi still hadn't launched any missiles at our ground forces, I had just dealt with the sub launched UAV's, and we were all beginning to line up for another run on the Hrimfaxi after taking out three smaller subs. He was starting to lose his 'hero' position.

"Geez, I thought this guy would be nicer than our base commander back home," Chopper complained.

"Ah, the top brass are all the same," Grimm told him nonchalantly.

"Okay squad, hit them hard and fast. I'll designate from a standoff range while you all go in with guided weapons and strike the same spot. Time your shots to be half second intervals apart for maximum effect."

"Copy that Captain," Grimm said. Kei began to lead up the formation while I circled back and turned towards the ship, designating a point right in the center of the long black object in the water.

"Edge, beginning volley," Kei said as she launched her first guided ordinance and pulled away. Chopper and then Grimm followed shortly after. For a second, there was suspense as even more guns lit up on the ship to try and intercept the missiles. But when three explosions blew one right after another in the same spot with the span of two seconds, there was crying of two types at both ends of the radio.

"The water's coming in too fast! The pumps can't keep up!" some cried out. "Dammit, they blew away the partitions! We have to seal off sections C1 through F3. Tell crew in those areas to get out!"

"We're gonna run out of ammo before we get the enemy!" a gunner added.

"Ballast tanks damaged! Unable to submerge!"

"How can four planes do this much damage?!" someone else asked. "What the hell's going on?! Are the Osean's using some kind of black magic?!" I couldn't help but grin. We had only put three missiles on target and they had already changed their mood from cocky to terrified. Suddenly, all of the ships anti-aircraft fire stopped. For a moment, I thought they had lost power to the guns but a split second later, a huge plume of white billowing smoke began to emanate from a port on top of the sub.

"Hrimfaxi launching burst missile!" Thunderhead announced. After a few moments of monitoring its trajectory, the AWACS plane made another announcement. "Wardog, it is headed your way! Climb! Zoom to above 5000 feet!" Adrenalin flooded my veins and arteries making me feel even colder in the already frigged airspace. I pushed my throttle to the max, initiating after-burn, and pointed my nose up to the 90 degree mark on my HUD. My wing mates were mirroring my actions just as quickly and we were up in the safe zone just as Thunderhead reached zero.

"Wardog, we need to engage that sub again," I said to my flight. "Let's get them again with our dumb bombs. Start from high altitude and try not to dip below three thousand if you can help it."

"If we remove the threat of that metal rain," Kei began, "the war could end early."

"And then we can go on leave. It's perfect!" Chopper said as we began lining up our shots. We released our ordinance just as the sub began to open fire with their anti-air measures again.

"Water's coming into the crew's quarters!" shouted someone over the radio.

"Dammit, how can four planes change the tide of war?!"

"Is it really coincidence that all this happened at this very spot...?" a shell shocked voice said.

"Demons that rain death from above... this is nuts!" another guy said.

"I'm not about to let some 'demons' decide our fate!" a gunner said as he began to open up, his gun alone in lashing out at our planes that were out of his range.

"Look! The Razgriz story was true!" the first voice said.

"Geez, you guys still believe in that? That's just a tall tale!" the gunner said trying to rationalize what was happening.

"Well, how do you explain all this damage?! I tell you they're demons! The Hrimfaxi's attacks are useless against the Razgriz!"

"They're just airplanes!" the gunner said insistently. "Shoot them, and they crash!"

"They've got to be the Razgriz..." the man said. It sounded like he was starting to lose it. "They're the real demons..."

"Who are these guys?" the man who was the communications officer said. "Are these the Osean aces?"

"Calm down," the man I assumed the Captain was said. "So what if they're aces?" The gunner started speaking up again. But the fire that used to be in his voice was starting to wane.

"You mean to say some demons from a fairy tale are killing us all? Don't be an idiot. If the 'demons' saw the power of our fleet, even they'd run away." the Captain came back over the radio.

"Enough with the demon stories! I'm gonna throw you all in the brig!"

"Wardog," I called out to my flight. "Begin third attack run." We shot towards the enemy sub again, weaving through the blankets of fire that were hurled at us.

"Nothing's hitting them!" the gunner yelled out in a frustrated tone that turned to terror. His next sentence was the softest he had said. "They've got to be..."

"Shut up!" the Captain yelled. "That's... that's just impossible!"

"Archer, Pickle," Grimm said as his bomb was released. We all followed his example and after a couple of half-seconds, four more explosions rippled across the top of the submarine.

"We can't go on! We need to leave this area, Sir!" one of the crew members stated.

"Keep trying! That's an order!" the Captain yelled.

"I've never seen a stupid fairy tale come true like this!" the crew member said. The man at the main radio control spoke up again.

"Lower hull flood spreading! It's finished. We can't save this boat!"

"They've sunk the Hrimfaxi?!" the enemy's Submarine Squadron Commander said.

"Hasn't the Captain left the control room yet?" someone on the sinking ship asked. The next transmission was preceded by a large exhale.

"This is my last order. All hands... abandon ship."

"Hrimfaxi, it appears you were up against Razgriz itself out there," the Submarine Squadron Commander said. I peered out my canopy to see bright orange boats around the quickly disappearing ship.

"Let's head home Wardog," I said as I began to make a heading for Sand Island. I didn't want to think about how many people wouldn't be getting out of the sinking sub. On our way back to base, we received a sit-rep from HQ.

The surprise attack on the Hrimfaxi was a success and the carrier has sunk to the bottom of the Razgriz Straits. The threat from the northern sea has disappeared and the Osean forces are on the offensive against Yuktobania.

As we got within range of the tower for Sand Island, we could hear cheering in the background as the Air Traffic Controller guided us to the runway we would use.

"You hear what's going on down there, Kid?" Chopper asked needlessly. "That is the sound of a party! Man, I can't wait to get down there and get out of this harness. It's been too long since I've let loose!"

"Yeah," Grimm said sarcastically. "A week and a half can really be a toll on a guy."

"Aww, shudup," Chopper said lazily. I just smirked at the two's banter. Once we were landed, welcoming parties came out to the tarmac and escorted us inside, some of the people clearly had already started 'celebrating.' The mess hall was filled with people and at the center of them all was a large cake that the cooks had whipped up once they heard about the success of our operation. Someone opened up a couple of bottles of wine and Chopper found a stash of beer and pretty soon, everyone seemed to be enjoying the night with a little bit, or a lot, of alcohol. Well, almost everyone. I just avoided the drink that was readily passed around and found Genette off in a corner with an amused look on his face.

"Enjoying the show?" I asked him as I leaned against the wall with him.

"Hey, Caden," he said casually. Genette was one of the few people who had no qualms with being informal with me, though I didn't know if it was because he was being friendly or just because he hadn't had military customs imprinted on him. "I guess you could say that. Congrats, by the way."

"On the Hrimfaxi?" I asked him to which he nodded. "Anyone else could've done the same." Genette stared at me for a bit before speaking up again.

"Do you really believe that?" he asked. I just nodded at him not understanding his insidious gaze. "You do realize that the last one of those subs required an orbital strike from a multi-megawatt laser to sink, right?" I just continued my confused gaze at the journalist. He cleared his throat and turned towards me more, giving me his full attention. I shifted my body towards him as well. "I've got journalist friends all over in the military. They're pretty jealous of me right now. You know why?" I figured it was a rhetorical question until he sat there waiting for me.

"Why?" I asked, a joking tone behind my question. One that Genette either didn't pick up on or ignored.

"Because I'm with the most renowned fighter squadron in the Osean military. Possibly in the entire world." I began to protest before the man put a hand on my shoulders with a firm grip instantly grabbing my attention. "I'm not exaggerating," he started with the utmost seriousness in his voice. "Right now, your squadron has the highest combat efficiency, kill count, and total number of sorties in this war. Do you think it was coincidence that you got handed your last mission? At every one of the bases I have a friend at, all anyone talks about is the Four Wings of Sand Island, and it's not because of my story. You are the face and backbone of the Osean Air Force in a very real way." I couldn't believe what Genette was saying. My mind quickly flashed to the Belken I had fought with over Apito.

"What about the whole Yuktobanian college thing? I thought there were plenty of people who hated us for that?" I asked, trying to find a whole in this whole thing.

"Phft," the journalist said dismissing the statement away with a hand gesture. "Even some Colonel's on other bases are wondering if the enemy framed you and your squadron as an attempt in propaganda. Look, right now, the only people who don't like you are the enemy and the idiot of a Colonel who's in charge of this base." I just looked at Genette for a moment in disbelief. Since when had we become a major part in this war? Well, I guess since the very first couple of engagements but still... "Just take care of yourself out there," Genette said pulling me from my thoughts. "With you guy's being such a large part of the military's moral, you've become a big target for the enemy as well. But I guess you didn't get this far by being easy to shoot down. Just the same, be careful out there." With that, he gave me a pat on the back and began walking over towards Pops who was also in a corner by his lonesome, observing the crowed with a crooked smile.

"Hey, Blaze," a slurred voice said from my right. A voice that sounded a lot like Kei. I looked over at the sound of the voice and saw Kei leaning heavily against a wall with a beer bottle in her hand. "You should come and join the party," she said, lazily rolling her head in the direction of the commotion behind her. Some of her hair fell down in front of her face and she began to blow and huff at it to get it out of the way before resorting to bringing up her free hand and trying push it back into place. But after three misses, she left it where it was and pushed off the wall to head in my direction.

"Just how much have you drank?" I asked her pointing at the bottle in her hand. For a second, she looked confused before she glanced at the bottle in her hand and returned her eyes to me with a quick grin.

"Oh, don't worry," she began lazily lifting the bottle up before dropping it back down to her side. "This is only my third. Or forth." She scrunched up her eyebrows as if deep in thought. After a moment, she relaxed her face back to a carefree position. "Definitely less than ten."

"Oh good," I said sarcastically starting to worry for her. "You don't drink too often, do you?"

"Nah," she said waving her hand. "But Chopper kept on insisting. He was right, it feels real good," she said with a growing smile as if remember a pleasant childhood memory. "He also said for you to let loose a little too," she said slugging me in the arm with the coordination of, well, a drunk person.

"One of us has to be the designated driver," I said, hoping my excuse wouldn't be too closely analyzed by the impaired person before me. For some people, alcohol is great. For me, it just wasn't appealing.

"Oh yeah," Kei said, leading me to believe she had taken my excuse. "Wait a second," she said realizing what I had said.

"Come on, Kei. I think it's time you go ahead and get some sleep," I said glancing at my watch. It was only 2100, but I knew that she would need a lot of sleep with the amount of alcohol she had and how little experience she had with it.

"But the party," she said looking back at the people who were beginning to act more and more like Kei. It wouldn't be long until one of the higher ups broke it down... hopefully.

"They'll be going to sleep soon too, Kei. Don't worry about them, let's take care of you," I said as I reached for the rest of her beer. Once she realized what I was doing, she quickly jumped out of my reach and guzzled the remaining quarter of the bottle. "Wow," I said un-amused by her juvenile display. "Real mature, Kei."

"Why, thank you," she said putting the bottle on the end of a table as she took a couple of wobbly steps towards me. I quickly came up to her side and helped her stand and then walk out of the mess. The whole way to her room she was leaning heavily on me, not being able to make any stride or step that could be considered normal. Kei's hallway was empty with everyone else at the party and for that I was grateful. I could still remember the first time I had tried to come down this hall and chickened out. When we came to Kei's door, she started fumbling around with her keys, trying to find the right one. Eventually she gave up and just handed them over to me dejectedly as she slumped up against the wall. I found the right one in a short order and proceeded to open the door and help Kei into her room.

"Okay," I said as I left her at the door way and started getting her bed ready for her. "You going to be okay-" I was interrupted as Kei's door swung shut. At first I thought she had fallen against it and panicked but when I spun around, I realized she had shut the door herself. "Kei, what are you doing?" I asked not even beginning to know what was going on in her impaired mind.

"What do you mean, Caden?" she asked so softly I had to strain my ears to hear her.

"Why did you slam the door like that?" I asked just as quietly. She began to take as coordinated as possible steps towards me, using the wall as support.

"Because I wanted some privacy," she said as she began to make a motion to take off her white shirt. I quickly moved to stop her.

"Whoa! Okay, let's, just, settle down now," I said pulling her hands away from herself. When she was finally able to react, she did so unexpectedly. She leaned forward into me and started to kiss me deeply. I could taste the alcohol that was still strong on her and pulled back quickly, eliciting a whimper of frustration from the woman in front of me.

"Caden," she said in almost a whining tone.

"Kei, you aren't yourself right now," I said. She looked into my eyes as best she could in the still dark room.

"But you know it's what I want," she said softly. But the smell of her breath was telling me all I needed to know.

"Maybe," I said, causing her to start leaning forward me lean back. "But," I said as she relented, "you still aren't yourself. Not one hundred percent." She sighed heavily and let her head fall on to my chest.

"You know I love you, right?" she asked, her head buried in my shirt, muffling her voice. She looked up slightly after a moment, her breathing more controlled than moments ago. I nodded somberly at her and she rested her head again. Even though I had just nodded my head, my mind was still swimming. It had been the first time she had told me flat out. I knew I really liked Kei. A lot. But was it love? How could I know? It wasn't like I had a surplus of people around to ask and I really hadn't dated anyone before Kei, if what we were doing could even be called dating.

"Let's get you into bed," I said, gently picking her up from the ground and placing her into bed, trying to distract myself from my own thoughts. As I began to pull away, she latched onto me tighter, preventing me from rising further.

"Join me?" she asked, almost pleaded. I saw a shimmer in her eyes and knew that even a sober Kei might be asking the same question. But my answer had to be the same for both versions of the woman.

"Not tonight," I said softly bringing my hands to hers and gently forcing her to release her hold on me. I slowly stood up not breaking eye contact with her. "Get some sleep," I said. After a small eternity, Kei responded.

"Okay. Good night, Caden."

"Good night, Kei," I said as I began to head for the door.

"Caden?" she called out as I reached the door. I turned around towards the woman in bed. "I love you," she said for the second time that night, causing my skin to rise with a multitude of goose bumps.

"Good night, Kei," I repeated as I stepped out into the hallway.

The next morning I got up as usual, though, it seemed that Grimm and I were the only ones to do so. I was unsure about what to expect from Kei. How much would she remember? I was busy with my contemplation as Grimm sat with me at a table near the middle of the room.

"What's on your mind, Captain?" he asked as he prepared his area for the meal he was about to eat. It was one of the many quirks I was beginning to notice about the youngest member of Wardog. He would make sure everything had its own place before even considering taking his first bite of food.

"Oh, things," I said in a sigh as I watched him work. "What about you? What's the world of Hanns Grimm like?" I asked. He finished up making his eating area perfect before he looked up to me with a broad grin.

"Oh, things," he responded casually. For a split moment, I was lost before I realized what he had done.

"Oh, I see how it is," I started as I poked my cereal with my spoon. "So it's a give and take game with you huh? Not a chatter box like Chopper. I get how this works." Grimm's smile only got larger as I continued to observe him. "Tell you what, you get the ball rolling. You go ahead and tell me whatever you want and then go ahead and ask me a question and I'll answer it." Grimm seemed to think this through for a moment before nodding his head.

"Okay. So you remember that date I went on while we were in Oured?" I nodded my head remembering I had thought it had simply been Grimm wanting to get away from the rest of for a while, which in a sense was partially true... "So the woman I was with was training to become a Combat Systems Officer. I just heard from her yesterday that she got through it all and is qualified now. She's expecting to become active by the 26th."

"That's great for her," I told him as he beamed at his partners accomplishments clearly thinking the same thing. "Alright," I began once he settled himself down. "What's your question for me?"

"How are things between you and second Lieutenant Nagase?" he asked without skipping a beat. My heart however, skipped several.

"What?" I said in a futile attempt to pretend I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Oh, come on Captain," Grimm said in a low voice despite the absence of anyone else in the room to hear. "You guys have had a thing for each other since you stepped on base. Just took you guys a long time to figure it out. Well, maybe it was more you who was taking their sweet time," he said smiling at me. I, however, was mortified. Kei had wanted this to be a secret, more or less. If Grimm could see what we felt for each other... "Oh relax," Grimm said, seeming to notice my worried features. "The only people who would be against you two getting together are even denser than you. And really, there's probably only one person on this entire base who would be against you two in the first place." I was still silent however. Would Kei be upset that our secret wasn't as secret as we thought?

"How many people know we're...?" I looked up at Grimm's stupid grin. Chopper was starting to wear off on him a little. "We're... a thing?" I asked. Grimm leaned back in his chair a little and just smiled wider.

"So you two are together then?" he asked.

"But I thought-"

"Just making sure. No one knew for sure but now-" Before Grimm could even finish I was bearing down on him in a flash.

"No one. Knows. Anything." Grimm's smile was gone and replaced quickly by surprise and then fear. He simply nodded before I sat back in my chair. "Kei doesn't want people in on it yet so, please, respect that," I said in a more civilized manner. Grimm was still shocked however and would've agreed to stop the moon in the state he was in. "So," I said continuing. "Since you kindly shared with me, I'll share with you, under the condition that anything I say to you will stay with you until Kei decides to go public." Grimm simply nodded once again. "Come on Grimm, I'm sorry for scaring you."

"I'm good, Captain," Grimm said straightening out a little, "just a little shaken up."

"Okay, so me and Kei. Obviously, we're together now..." I said looking at him as he regained his smile.

"Uh huh," he said encouraging more out of me.

"We enjoy each other a lot... not like that you perv! Man, Grimm get your mind out of the gutter!" The young man just laughed at my self-interruption when he raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Neither of us has really dated before so it's all pretty touch and go. Added on to that are our... circumstances," I said gesturing around at the base as a whole around me.

"Yeah," Grimm said in agreement before busting into a large grin. "I guess it would be hard trying to 'enjoy' each other in a place like this." I was about to reach over and slug the man in the arm as Chopper walked into the mess. I restrained my actions against Grimm for another time as I watched the new patron of the cafeteria shuffle over to the serving line and get some eggs and milk. He then slowly shuffled his way over to us, grimacing each time he walked through a sun beam. Grimm had taken the hesitation in my beating to resume eating and glanced at Chopper only a few times as he made his tired way to our table and finally sat down.

"Hey, Kid," He said in a soft voice as he winced open his eyes and forced a painful looking grin at me.

"Hey yourself, Mr. High times," I returned in a lowered voice as well, not wanting to put the man through any more of a horrible morning than what he would have to face already. "Seems like you had quite the party last night," I said as he took his first sip of milk. He smiled a genuine smile with a milk mustache as he remembered what little he probably could.

"You could say that," he said as he brought the glass back up to his lips for a second sip. I then recalled that Kei had said that Chopper had convinced her of participating in the alcoholic part of the party. Before I could bring up that fact, Chopper did it himself. "You could also say that Ms. Nagase was too."

"About that-" I began but Chopper seemed to forget about his hangover and began to re-account last night's events more rapidly.

"Man she was second guessing herself to next Sunday," he began looking slightly up at the ceiling as if it had a story written on its water stained tiles. "'I don't know,' she had said. 'I've never been good with alcohol.' But then I brought you up and how you were probably off drinkin' somewhere too. That was when she got this sudden spark in her eye, like she had some sort of idea. Boy, she started downing them after that." I had finished my plate of breakfast some time ago and had only been sitting around to talk with Grimm. I now found a new use for my empty platter and fork.

"Ops," I said as I loudly dropped my silverware on my plate. The resulting recoil from Chopper was both satisfying and painful to watch.

"Gah!" he shouted softly as he pulled into himself. "Watch it kid, this hangover's a bitch."

"Sorry," I said with false sincerity that he didn't seem to pick up on. "Guess I should get going then." I got up and left to my room to get changed into some PT gear. There wouldn't be a lot going on today because of what everyone had done last night but I decided that I could be productive in at least some capacity.

It was a good workout day and with no one else in the gym to disrupt any kind of machine rotation, I was becoming thoroughly whipped. I only stopped once for a quick lunch break and I hadn't seen Kei the entire day. Part of me was wondering if it was intentional on her part. When I got back into the gym, I continued until it was 1730. An entire day of working out makes you hungry and sweaty so after I got a meal, I took a shower and returned to my room looking for something else to do. When nothing came to mind I decided to cut the day short and enjoy some rest while I could.

**.oOo.**

"How did you meet mom?" I asked. It still felt a little strange to call Elizabeth that, but it was starting to lose its foreignness. Andrew, or as I was beginning to call him, dad, just continued to drive down the potted road as we came back from caribou hunting. The big animal in the back of our vehicle was testament that my new father knew a thing or two about how to track the animals.

"I met her for the first time when we were two," he started. "We were neighbors on military base housing. Her father was a Corporal in the Marines and mine was a Petty Officer Third Class in the Navy. From what my mom tells me, they got along pretty good despite the whole Marines/Navy thing. Anyways, Liz and I grew up together for three years before my family got transferred to a new base. We didn't see each other for ten more years. I hardly remembered her for anything more than a missed playmate. So, my dad gets out and one day and he gets a letter from a now retired Gunnery Sergeant Marine about a wonderful place called St. Ark. A month later, Liz and I are neighbors again. But ten years was a long time. It turned out we couldn't stand each other." I looked at my adopted father with disbelieving eyes.

"But if you guys didn't like each other, how did you-"

"Don't worry son, I'm getting there." Andrew had been using the term 'son' in a variety of ways, most of them being safely arguable as the term used to talk to just about any pre-teen boy. But I had the feeling that he was more or less using it because of how he saw me. "So, me and Liz, we couldn't have been more different. Even though I had just moved in I made friends like that," he said, temporarily taking his hands off the trucks wheel and snapping his fingers. "I joined sports teams, I got in with the 'cool' crowd, and you could probably have just summed me up as the cool jock." I smiled at his self-flattery. I could see he was starting to enjoy himself. "Liz, on the other hand, well she was what you could call the bookworm who was off by herself. But boy, was she smart. I think that's what finally got to me. All the girls I had gone out with before, they were alright, pretty and stuff, but even a jock starts wanting something more intellectual after a while."

"You dated other people?" I asked a little disbelieving. Andrew seemed like he only had eyes for Elizabeth.

"Yeah, but like I just said, they just weren't for me. I still think Liz has records of every single one of them though," he said with a slight smile that I joined in with. "So it's the beginning of junior year and I still don't know what I'm going to do in life, if anything." Andrew took this moment to do an aside and delve into a mini lecture that I was finding he was prone to starting. "Find out what you want to do early in life, son," he said briefly taking his eyes off the road to look at me and point a finger. "The sooner you figure that out, the sooner you start enjoying life." He brought his gaze back to the road only after I gave a stern nod of understanding. "Anyways, I still don't know what I'm gonna' do with life. I'm pretty good at sports but my grades were never the best. My friends were even worse off than I was, though that was probably because they were all trying to get high and drunk." Another diversion; "Don't mess around with drugs and alcohol. It will ruin your life if you start now," he said as he turned back towards me. Another nod and the story continued.

"So I've kind of isolated myself from my usual friends because I don't get high or drunk with them and everyone else is too flaky. They wanted to be seen with me but didn't really want to be with me. Liz was actually the one who approached me first. In an act of desperation to get some better grades, I started visiting the library more. But Andrew Irving doesn't go to the library. 'What am I supposed to do in here?' I had thought to myself." I couldn't help but laugh when he talked about himself in third person. It was something he did sometimes when telling stories that I found funny and I got the feeling he did it more when I was around. "So I'm browsing all these shelves of books and find myself in this weird section with books about the history of lace." I looked up at him like he was making this stuff up. "Really. Lace. Not making this up."

"Alright," I said, putting up my hands in mock surrender.

"Aw, you," he muttered as he swatted my hands down. "Anyways, I'm standing there, wondering, 'how in the world did I get to this? Lace?' Needless to say, that was a low point in my life." If that was a low point in Andrew's life, I figured he was doing pretty well. "All the sudden, I hear Liz say, 'try the one about Verusean silk of the 16th century, it's got interesting designs.'" Again he looked at me. "I swear, that's exactly what she said. I know because it was right then and there that I realized just how amazing Liz was. Who in the world knows anything about 16th century lace? From Verusa? It turned out she knew the answer to just about any obscure question I could ask. That day marked the end of hostilities between me and her and the start of a relationship the turned into a marriage."

"You married mom because she knew about 16th century silk lace from Verusa?"

"You can't say it like that," he said defensively. "She knew a lot of other stuff too. She helped me get from the bottom 25% of my class to the top 15% in one semester. That helped me realize how much I could do if I put my mind to it. And had the right help." We were quiet for a while longer before he asked the question he almost always asked after I had asked him about anything. "Why do you ask?"

In keeping with a custom that I could have sworn was thousands of years old and performed by children all over the world, I responded, "Just 'cause." Silence was present for a long time after that. The rest of the trip home was a mostly straight road that gave us a view to watch the sun slowly arc from the middle of the sky to the west, dipping down deeper and deeper creating bright reds and purples and pinks that reflected off the deep snow around us beautifully.

"How did you know?" I finally asked.

"Hum?" Andrew asked. I couldn't blame him for being lost, it had been close to six hours since we had talked last.

"How did you know Liz was 'the one'?" I asked clarifying.

"I didn't know right away," he responded. He tilted his head to the side a little before he brought it back and began talking again. "I had to almost lose her to know for sure."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, after that day in the library, we were, at best, good friends again, but we weren't anything else despite what the grape vine at our school was saying. So when a school dance came along, Homecoming of Senior year, a guy came along and asked Liz to be his date. Now, like I said, we weren't dating or anything but when that guy asked her, I knew that I should've been the one to ask her. So I moped around for a week until the dance came up and of course, I didn't go. No date, so what was the point right? So I'm sitting out on our front porch the entire night, watching the stars when I hear the front door of Liz's house open up. Not something unusual or anything but why was it opening up tonight at this time?" I looked up at my father as he was telling his story. I could tell that even now he was slightly surprised by what he was telling me.

"So I look over to see who's coming out at this time of night to see Liz stepping out and taking a seat on one of the chairs over on her porch. There was about a good 50 feet between us but we just stared at each other for a couple of moments. Now, I'm confused as an owl who found out they've always been hunting in the day, so I'm just staring at her. She finally says, 'I like Orion the best. Easy to see at night this time of the year.' And now I'm just even more amazed. Lace and stars? Through my stupor I finally ask, 'Why aren't you at homecoming?' And you know what she goes and says to me? She says, 'Why didn't you ask me to go with you?' She knew what I felt before I did. Women are freaky like that. So we spent the night dancing together in her front yard. That was the best dance I'd ever been to. But to think, I could've lost her to that guy just cause I didn't know how I felt," he made the effort to make an exaggerated shiver. "Figure yourself out fast, son. The sooner you do that, the happier you'll be in life."

**.oOo.**

As I woke up, I got the feeling that someone was in the room with me. As calmly as I could, I looked around to try and find the other presence in the room.

"That looked like a good one," Kei said from a chair near the door. All the calm I had been able to muster before was gone as I nearly jumped out of my skin at her voice sounding off in the close quarters of my room. When my eyes finally found her, she was just grinning, but after a while, the grin became more neutral and eventually faded away completely. "Look, I don't remember everything that happened a couple of nights ago, at least I can't remember what really happened. All I can remember is waking up in my bed and not knowing how I got into it. I just want you to know that whatever I may have said or tried to do, I probably didn't mean. Probably." She studied my face acutely for any kind of emotion that may have flickered across it so when she saw such an action she immediately added, "What exactly did I say? I've got all these memories but, they're not coherent or in order and I'm not even sure if some of them are real."

"Well," I started, bringing myself to a seated position in my bed. "I don't want to embarrass you or anything-"

"Please, Caden," she started. "It's important I know what happened. I don't want some part of my life missing no matter how small it is." I could tell there was some truth behind what she had said but the real reason why she wanted me to tell her what had happened she was keeping from me.

"Well," I began again. "You were making it pretty clear you didn't want to be alone that night," I began sheepishly. Kei's only reaction was to drop her head into her lap and I could tell by the tips of her ears that came through her hair that she was turning the color of a tomato. After a while, she stood up and put the chair back to where it was supposed to go.

"I'm sorry for doing that to you," she said trying to avoid eye contact with me. She started heading for the door.

"That wasn't all you said," I told her as she reached for the handle. Her movement froze and it became deathly silent. Finally, she brought the hand she had been reaching with up to her hair to brush it back behind her ears and faced me. The face that had been bright red before was now drained of all color. We looked at each other for a long time. I knew she knew what she had said, but she was waiting for me to confirm it for her all the same. She finally broke the silence with a large breath in that she held before releasing it in one big whoosh.

"So that was real, too," she said finally.

"Yeah." Silence. We looked at each other a long time before I found it hard to look at Kei's face any more.

"Well," she said as I dropped my gaze, "like I said before, I'm sorry for doing that to you." I heard her start to move again and it felt like I got punched in the gut. I didn't look up while she moved to the door. Before she left though she said one more thing. "But unlike before, I meant that part." I whipped my head back up just in time to see her smile in at me before the door shut.


	19. -Pick Up-

**Pick Up**

Before the day could get too far along, an airman chased me down as I began to get ready for an early lunch. I had slept in a little long and was desperate for some food that seemed like it would never come. The man who had found me told me to be in the briefing room in twenty minutes. When we were all in the room, the Colonel entered without a word except for a mumbled 'you may be seated' before he pressed the button to initiate the actual briefing.

"Our ground offensive is continuing its fast paced push into Yuktobanian soil. A POW internment camp was discovered during the offensive and a team of marines has attacked and captured the camp. The marines have secured the camp's radio room and a flight of helicopters is on route to retrieve the prisoners. Your mission is to provide close air support for this rescue and retrieval operation. The radio room could be retaken by the enemy at any moment. If it is, the enemy will report the attack, and the rescue will end in failure. Find and shoot down all enemy aircraft in the local airspace and secure air superiority across the entire area." When the briefing was done, we were quickly rushed to our planes with not much time to spare. The operation was already underway and we had to get to the AO as fast as possible. We had just entered the mission area when Grimm came in over the radio.

"This is Archer. Captain, can you see the POW camp?"

"Not yet, we just got here," I responded wondering why he had asked a question he already knew the answer to.

"Well," Chopper began, "we should be able to see it soon."

"You think the Captain... uh, I mean... Captain Bartlett... you think he's in there?" Grimm asked soon after. So that was why he asked.

"I bet he is," Chopper said without missing a beat. "He's probably busy cussin' out all the other POWs and taking charge right now. Right, Nagase?" But Kei stayed quiet. I didn't know if it was because she hadn't heard him or because- "You're not still blaming yourself, are you?" Chopper asked.

"No..." Kei said after a short pause. Our radio's quieted down once again until the ground crew with the POWs came in.

"Fighters, I can hear the roar of your engines approaching. Uh... this is Sea Goblin. Man, I thought if I joined the Marines I'd get to work on tropical beaches all the time..." The irony of the man's statement wasn't lost on me as I thought about Sand Island compared to the current weather. We were currently in some of the worse weather I had flown in, snow cutting visibility down to less than a mile and I could only guess at what the temperature was outside with it being close to December and being much further away from the equator than Sand Island. "We've safely recovered the POWs. Guess our copter's not here yet," the Marine said.

"You're gonna have to babysit 'em a little longer. I'm picking up enemy planes on my radar," Chopper said as I confirmed the same signatures on my own radar.

"Roger. You're that squadron from Sand Island, right? I've heard of you guys. Can't wait to see you do your stuff," the man said, reminding me of the talk I had with Genette about how we were becoming 'famous' throughout the military. We began to seek out the patrols in the area. Thanks to some data mining done by intelligence back home, we knew how many planes were up and flying. Most of the flights we approached didn't even know what was happening until they were struck with a sidewinder. Our fortune took a change in direction on the last pair of planes, Su-27s. Kei and I were going to take them out, Chopper and Grimm already heading back towards the base where our people were. As I got my lock on the enemy, he pulled off to the right, his wing mate delaying only for a second before pulling in the opposite direction.

"I've got right," I called out to Kei.

"Copy, I'll get the left." We both broke off and began to pursue the bandits through the blizzard we were in. Luckily, my opponent pulled above the clouds and I was able to finally see what was going on. For a while, it was just me following his tale, trying to get a lock on while getting closer the whole time. But before I got into gun range or a solid lock, the plane dipped the nose suddenly and deployed the air-brake on its back, flashing the nose back up and beginning a kulbit loop to try and get behind me. I was amazed by the skill of the pilot at his ability to pull the maneuver, but I knew that in a combat situation, speed and altitude were everything and the kulbit sacrificed a lot of speed. I hit the after-burner to gain even more of a speed advantage, shooting past the plane that was about to enter a stall with its velocity plummeting. I began a turn to get the enemy back in front of me, craning my neck to peer back at the plane that had just leveled out again. There was a momentary pause before I saw the flames of the after-burners of my opponent's jet engage, the pilot desperately trying to gain back his lost momentum. But for him, it was too late. I had already circled around and slightly above the enemy, gaining a solid missile tone in no time, launching a warhead and watching it streak towards the plane.

As it fell back through the clouds, I called in to Kei. "How you doing, Edge?"

"This one's giving me some problems, mind helping out?" she asked.

"Blaze copies, coming in for an assist." I dove back down through the clouds and looked on my radar to try and find Kei again in the thick snowstorm. I eventually spotted two dots darting around on my scope and approached. "Coming in on your six," I told Kei only to get an almost immediate and stressed response.

"That's the enemy's six there, Blaze! He's the one who's following me! Go ahead and take him out!"

"Gah! Got it," I said as I lined up a shot with my last sidewinder, not wanting to take precious time trying to get a gun kill. "Blaze, fox two." The enemy was oblivious to me until the missile was in the air and by then, it was too late.

"Thanks for that," Kei said softly as she rejoined my side as we headed back towards Chopper and Grimm who were loitering over the POW camp.

"All right, we've mopped up the enemies in the area," Chopper told the helicopter pilots who were in rout to the camp. "You can bring in the taxi now." The Marine unit on the ground spoke up soon after.

"Roger. We're all set. Bring the helicopter in to our position. The ground is still crawling with weapons installations though, so they can't land. Could you clear them out for us?"

"Sure thing, Sea Goblin," I told the man as we began low approaches with our F-18s. When the actual facility came into view, Kei spoke up again.

"I see the POW camp. The man I must... the people we must help are in there." Despite her attempt to cover up her slip up in words, I knew she still, on some level, blamed herself for what had happened with Captain Bartlett. Once we had finished suppressing and taking out the anti-air encampments around the facility, we continued to loiter in the area to provide any back up the helicopter needed.

"Okay, thanks for taking out the trash," the Marine unit said. "We're taking the POWs outside. Can you see their smiling faces?"

"This is Puck. Blake, have you been chatting up these pilots the entire time? No wonder we don't get to work with the Air Force as much as Victor's squad. Just be ready for your pick up," the helicopter pilot for Sea Goblin said.

"The POWs are heading for the helicopter," Kei said as she began to drop her altitude. "We're almost done with the rescue operations. Those people... I wish I could see their faces from up here," she said in an almost entranced voice.

"Heh," Chopper laughed aloud. "Nagase's actually going down to look."

"Alright," the Marine who had been with us the entire time said. "Everyone's in the helicopter. Checking to make sure we got all of them."

"Sea Goblin, is Captain Bartlett there?" Kei asked anxiously. "Check for a Captain Bartlett."

"Hmm," the man mused aloud. "No... Nobody named Bartlett here. Hey, what about you?" After a moment of silent dialogue between him and who I assumed was another POW, he came back over the radio. "Nope, not here. None of the other POWs ever heard of him either."

"But that can't... look, just check for me one more time!" Kei said desperately as she began to bank her plane around for another pass over the facility. That was when the SAM was launched. It happened so fast that I was surprised Kei was able to respond as fast as she had. She climbed as fast as she could while one of the gunships that had traveled with Sea Goblin took out the installation that had shot off the missile. Everyone was silent as all we heard were grunts from Kei as she tried to out maneuver the missile. But it was all in vein. The warhead detonated but before a catastrophic explosion, a smaller one from the front of the plane occurred indicating an ejection occurred and I released a breath I realized I had been holding.

"Are you alright?!" Chopper asked first. After a short while that still seemed too long to me, Kei responded.

"I'm fine. My planes trashed, but those are always replaceable." I could tell she was beating herself up already. I was just trying to fight the adrenalin that was making it hard for me to fly my plane straight. I couldn't find the concentration to speak a word.

"Sea Goblin to gunship. We're taking our guests home now. Can you guys rescue her?" The gunship responded promptly after that.

"Roger. Weather conditions are getting worse. We'd better step on it." The helicopter began to move to the spot where we had seen Kei's chute landed at. But the weather was really starting to pick up and Kei's white parachute would not be easy to see in the snow storm. "Landing point confirmed, roger. Heading in to pick her up." The rotary wing aircraft began to approach the ground but before it could do a soft landing, it seemed to suddenly fall out of the sky, losing lift as a strong wind literally stole the air beneath it.

"The gunship crashed!" Grimm yelled out as we all watched the helicopter land hard on the side of the mountain.

"Dammit!" Sea Goblin's pilot yelled. "The storm's too strong!"

"We can't just leave her behind!" Chopper yelled, mirroring my own thoughts.

"Look, I hate it too, but we have to wait for conditions to get better before we can do anything," Grimm tried explaining to his wing mate.

"Dammit, is there nothing we can do?!" Chopper yelled. I just looked at the spot on the mountain where Kei was. Her flight suit wasn't made for this kind of weather and to make matters worse, she was in enemy territory. I had no idea how long she might be able to survive.

"Please, be patient," Grimm said again trying to calm Chopper who wasn't having any of it. "All we can do now is wait."

"Dammit!" Chopper yelled again.

"You said it," Sea Goblin's pilot said. I pulled down to the area Kei was and buzzed above the ground, rocking my wings to try and convey a message we would come back. I wanted so badly to see her but the storm was picking up too much and I was moving at too fast a speed. I had to pull out and leave her behind.

"I'll come back for you," I whispered, the gravity of it all starting to come to me fully. We were on our way back to base in silence when we got the electronic debriefing from central.

The POW rescue operation was a success and both the marines and our friends held in the camp were safely recovered. As for Captain Kei Nagase who was attacked and bailed out during the operation, Colonel Perrault will issue orders on her behalf. Central Command will be replacing Captain Nagase's plane that was lost in the crash.

"Captain Nagase?" Grimm asked as we began our approach to base. "What's that about?" When we landed we found out. As soon as we walked inside, the Colonel called us into the debriefing room which, even with only one person missing, felt incredibly empty.

"None of the rescued POWs saw Bartlett in the internment camp. Now where could he be I wonder," the fat man asked rhetorically. If I hadn't been so preoccupied with thinking about Kei, I might have punched his lights out at the sentence he had just uttered. "Upon more favorable weather conditions, we will carry out a rescue operation for Capitan Nagase." There was extra emphasis put on the 'Captain' part of Kei's title. "That's right. You've all been promoted yet again. You guys are burning through the ranks, you know that? You can thank high command for it," he said as he waved his hand at us dismissively and walked, or maybe waddled, out of the room. I couldn't believe the man. I was about ready to run after him and kick him around for the way he was just so dismissive of Kei and her current situation.

"It's going to work out, Kid," Chopper said sensing my discomfort and discontent. "We'll get her back soon enough." Knowing that he had done all he could for me, he left the room, pulling Grimm along with him. I just sat with myself for a while. Would she really come back though? The room started to spin and I had to walk around to distract myself from the endless 'what ifs' that started to plague my mind. I went to her room to make sure she just hadn't surprised us all and come back somehow. She wasn't there. But something was. On her desk was the book she had shown me what seemed like ages ago. I walked into the room and sat at the desk, picking up the worn, red book.

I began to flip through the pages, the faintest smell of her coming to me and have a soothing effect that nothing else would have on me. I had leafed thorough almost the entire book when a particularly thick section of hand written notes came to my attention. Looking at them more closely showed they were dated. Picking one at random, I began reading.

_November 4th, 2010_

_These last couple of days have been confusing. First, there was that night where we shared a bed. It wasn't anything... sexual... but I still felt... And what came over me at the gym? And the pool, he was so skittish... And then I just came back from a... what was it even? An outing? I guess I'm just as sure as he is about what it was. All I know is that it wasn't what I wanted it to be. It's becoming impossible to see him as just a fellow pilot or even a friend but I don't know how he feels for certain... I'm going to just have to do it, aren't I? I just need to figure out how..._

So she did use the book as a journal of some sort. I thought back to the time at the diner. How differently would that night go now that we were open with our feelings for each other? The entry had taken away my anxiety for a moment but it began to creep back as I began to think I would never be able to do something like that with her again. I flipped back a couple of pages.

_September 5th, 2010_

_I met the guy people have been talking about, first in the sky as an unknown opponent, and then on the ground afterwards. He wasn't like how they've all been explaining him though. In fact, while they said he was cold and distant, I found him to be... like me. I have to admit, I was a little angry at him at first for shooting me down. But after meeting him and learning he isn't some big headed macho guy, I'm kind of disappointed I've been avoiding meeting him. Maybe I should have let him find me yesterday. And now I find out we are going to be in the same squadron. At least we will be able to make up for any lost time I may have caused. I think I've found a friend who will stick. Doesn't hurt that he isn't hard on the eyes._

I couldn't help but smile the smallest bit at the last sentence. I flipped forward some more and stopped when I saw AZAROLA in all capital letters.

_October 3rd, 2010_

_THAT MESUINU! MARK THESE WORDS, AZAROLA WILL NOT BE IN THE MILITARY FOR LONG. The way she overtly tried to get to Caden? I'm just glad he seemed to be having a prolonged case of cluelessness when it came to her obvious advances. Anyways, I told Caden about my mom. Well, at least who she was. It turns out my fear for rejection couldn't have been more unfounded. For a guy who can be as clueless as him, he sure knows how to make me feel... accepted. 'I like Kei the person,' he told me. Was that a hint? Is he being so discreet that maybe he thinks I'm the one being clueless? Why is this so hard? I just don't want to mess up anything by assuming he feels the same way but... This is silly. Maybe this is what mom had tried to tell me about in the notes she left. I think I just need to sleep on it._

I would have to ask Kei what 'mesuinu' meant. I was pretty sure whatever it was, it wasn't good. I flipped to the next entry.

_October 19th, 2010_

_They're having a grill out on the beach. But I was already watching before that. That looks worse when it's written down like that. I don't know why, but Caden just makes me smile when he's around. Well, maybe I know why. He knows what to say to make me feel good and the strange thing is that I don't think he's even trying to woo me. I mean, I'd love it if he actually was, but I don't get that kind of feeling from him. I really want to go out there and change his mind about that, but I'm stuck in here over thinking just how to do that. And then that whole thing with AZAROLA, I don't want him thinking I'm like her. She ruined a lot of planning, but maybe it was for the best. I don't want to get his attention that way. I don't think I would get it that way either._

The next entry was the last one in the book so far. Anxiety built within me as I thought this could be the last thing she would write in this book. I just needed to forget that for now.

_November 16th, 2010_

_Why did I drink? That had to be the most retarded thing I've done. Unless the cloudy memories in my head are real. Then those have to top even that. If I tried to get him to come to bed with me, I might be able to pass that off as the alcohol. But if I really said what I think I did... I don't think he's ready for that... yet. I don't want to scare him off, but, that's how I feel. And I know he feels the same way, he just doesn't know it himself._

'She knew what I felt before I did.' The words of my father were the only thing that echoed in my head for a long time. A dull throb started deep inside me until it became a lump in my throat so big I was finding it difficult to swallow. She had to come back now so I could tell her. She had to.

I put the book down and stood up to leave. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was already three in the morning. So much for rest. I had a lot of it the last couple of days anyways. I went to the mess hall. No one was working but the cereal and milk dispensers were still functioning so I had a bowl of bran. I had almost finished the cereal when someone else came into the room looking for me.

"Captain Irving!" Grimm shouted at me, causing me to choke on the cereal in my throat. Grimm continued to talk though, either not noticing or ignoring the effects of his cry. "They've got a read on Captain Nagase's location and the weather is good enough for a green light! They're going to start the briefing as soon as we join them! Let's go!" I didn't need any more than that to jump up from my spot and rush past Grimm and head straight for the conference room. When Grimm and I were both seated, Colonel Perrault spoke in tone that was, as strange as it sounded, laced with the faintest amount of sincerity.

"Bring back Captain Nagase. Don't make us have to give her a posthumous two-rank promotion." With that, he pressed the button and the projector shot to life, the blinds in the room not even closing because of the lack of any light outside to block.

"We've succeeded in tracking down Capitan Kei Nagase's distress beacon. We will now launch a combat search-and-rescue operation for the Captain. Captain Nagase is currently on the run from an enemy patrol. Although she's being pursued, her distress beacon is still broadcasting. This transmission is extremely weak, so we cannot confirm her location unless we get closer to the source of the signal. Your planes have equipment that will allow you to follow the signal to find Captain Nagase's concealed location as quickly as possible. Once you find her, report her location to the Sea Goblin helicopter squadron. The helicopter's search and rescue team is expected to face stiff opposition from enemy air and ground forces. After the helicopter team picks up Captain Nagase, provide support for them as they airlift her up and out."

Once the briefing was done, we were in the air in little under ten minutes. It was the longest flight I had ever gone through to get to the area of operations. Once we were there, we tuned our radios to the wide band to pick up any incoming transmission and tuned our locator's to Kei's frequency.

"Hey, Blaze, did you see someone below us just now?" Chopper asked. It was a ludicrous question because the transponder was already pointing us in another direction. "Ah... wait... that's not a person. Sorry, my mistake." I hoped he wouldn't be doing that the entire time. I suddenly picked up one of the enemies transmissions. From the dull thumping in the background, I could tell it was a helicopter.

"Enemy planes above! You see them?" the voice asked. Then I heard the voice I had wanted to hear for the last couple of hours.

"I'll be all right. I know Blaze will come for me..."

"Nagase?" I called out, but instead of her responding, I got Thunderhead.

"It's no use, we believe her receiver is broken so we can only hear what she is saying. She can't hear anything from us.

"Do you think Captain Nagase will notice our engine noise?" Grimm asked soon after.

"She might," Thunderhead responded slowly. "But why-"

"Let's use that sound to boost her morale," Grimm said, not waiting for the AWACS plane to finish their question. That was when we encountered our first squadron of enemy fighters. I had pent up enough emotions to break a thousand dams so when I began to engage the enemy pilots, I held nothing back, the edges of my vision beginning to blur even with the new G-suit as I pulled high G maneuvers that were sure to leave Pop's wincing at the damage to the airframe. The first plane was a mistake, more or less, as I was gunning for the enemy that they passed in front of. As soon as the bottom of his plane was riddled with holes and out of action, the stream of fire continued into the plane I had original been shooting for. It erupted in a brilliant explosion as auxiliary fuel tanks lit up. Carnage from the resulting explosion littered the airspace and some must've gotten into another planes' engine intakes because it started trailing smoke before its own engines erupted and flamed out resulting in an ejection. The final pilot was downed with a sidewinder I had locked on during the time in between.

"Blaze, downed a bandit," Thunderhead began. "Bogey two shot down by Blaze. Enemy number three... shot down by Blaze? Is this...? Fourth bandit down."

"You okay, Kid?" Chopper asked in a concerned voice. He had tried to engage but as soon as he was in a position to fire, the plane he was targeting fell out of the sky.

"Let's find Kei," I said pointedly as I continued on the vector I was getting the strongest feedback from.

"Four planes in rapid succession," one of the enemy's broadcasts announced in an almost awed state.

"Shit... They're here," another one said, his voice low and filled with dread.

"Find that downed pilot!"

"Blaze..." Kei transmitted breathlessly. In the background of the transmission, faint explosions from the battle I had exited could just now be heard reaching her. "I knew you'd come for me. I knew it."

"The signals getting stronger," Chopper said as the beeping in my cockpit got faster and faster. "Nagase's around here somewhere." I checked my radar briefly to see what the enemies around us were doing. Their blips on radar were dense around us, knowing that following us would lead them to Kei as well. We had to get rid of them before Sea Goblin came in.

"Wardog," I started, calling attention to Chopper and Grimm. "We need to down the enemies in this area before Kei can be picked up. Make it happen."

"Roger Captain," Grimm said as he and Grimm split off. I started doing some gun runs on enemy anti-aircraft positions that were scattered around the area. After most of them were dealt with, I focused on helping out Chopper and Grimm. Our F-18's had been loaded out for an air superiority role and now had two AIM 120's each. I turned on the tracking devices in my ordinance and targeted two enemy planes just a couple of miles away.

"Blaze, Fox three," I said as the missiles flew off their rails and towards the two unsuspecting enemy planes. I just didn't stand around and watch though. As soon as the missiles were clear, I began to track a third plane that was targeting me. I applied full throttle and shot up towards a higher altitude. The enemy pilot followed me blindly and soon regretted it as I turned into the sun and the enemy pilot lost me in its glare. As he was struggling to reacquire a fix on my position, I reoriented my plane and lined up my nose with his craft and strafed him, hitting the middle of his fuselage and left wing. The plane quickly disintegrated and the pilot ejected just before the cockpit broke into useless scrap. With all the threats in the immediate area taken care of, I dove back to the ground to return my attention to searching for Kei.

The pace at which the beeps were coming in was increasing faster and fast until her voice came back over the radio with my own engine noise clearly audible in the background.

"Blaze!"

"This is Sea Goblin. Wardog, have you found her?"

"Affirmative," I replied, elated I had found her. But the real work would now begin.

"Roger. Good job. We'll move in for the rescue. While we're on our way eliminate those ground installations in front of us. We need to make sure this place is safe." I flew around the helicopter like it already had Kei in it, not letting anything get with a two mile radius of the vehicle. "Sea Goblin arriving at designated point momentarily. All right, prepare to drop! Don't make her wait any longer! Everyone ready? Go, go, go!" The helicopter hovered in place while I continued to circle around the helicopter. An eternity seemed to go by before there was movement by the rotary wing aircraft. "Pilot and two others secured. We are RTB."

"How is she? Is she alright?" Grimm asked. There was a little pause before anyone answered but when the response finally did come in, I breathed out a sigh of relief that made me feel one hundred times better.

"I'm fine, Grimm. Just a little tired," Kei responded in a tired voice.

"Why don't you just lay back now," one of the people on the Sea Goblin said. "Go ahead and rest up a little. We'll have you back at base and fighting in the sky before you know it." We provided air support for the helicopter until it was back out at sea and landing on the aircraft charier Kestrel. Me, Chopper and Grimm all received mid-air refueling and went on to base without Kei who would be flown out to the base as soon as she was deemed medically fit. As soon as we all landed at Sand Island, we tried to find something to pass the time until Nagase was back.


	20. -Dream Sequence-

**Dream Sequence**

It was an agonizing wait for Kei to come back. The only thing I could think of doing was waiting for her. I sat in the crew room and just watched the hands on the analogue clock turn, indicating the passage of time at a rate I found much to slow to be prudent. Eventually, my eye lids fell to the lead weights that were weighing them down and didn't open as my mind began to roam free in the memories of my past.

**.oOo.**

When I first came to college, I knew no one, as is typically the case. I had thought I was the only one from my school who went to this university and for good reason. Our city was a small one, our graduating class, smaller. So when I saw my high school friend Whitney show up on the first day in my history class, I was a little more than surprised.

"Whitney?" I asked hesitantly. I had seen so many look-alikes at the college and had more than one particularly embarrassing memory of mistaken identity.

"Caden?" she asked just as experimentally. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Caden! It's been forever! This is great!" she said excitedly. "Oh, we've got to hang out some time! Come on, let's go find some seats." It was good to already have a friend as close as Whitney by the first week of college. It wasn't as great that the only class we seemed to have together this semester was history.

History. It's a subject that I normally didn't get involved in. Moving to a new country has a whole slew of problems it can create for a student. You don't realize how much you've been taught about your country's history until you have to learn another's.

It was starting to get to the end of the semester and we began covering more recent events. Today was a recap day and for the first time, I was excited for the class. We had been assigned the reading for today's discussion a week ago and I had gotten so into it, I did some auxiliary reading.

"Can anyone tell me the first instance of powered flight achieved by mankind that involved a heavier than air vehicle?" the teacher asked the class, his face telling me he was already afraid that no one would be participating. My hand was the first, and only, hand to go up. After the apprehensive professor nodded to me to answer, I gave a response that would assuage his fears of non-participation.

"The first instance of powered human flight occurred in 1893 and was conducted by two Belken brothers by the names of Bauer and Yanavain Freidrickson," I stated in a voice that couldn't hide my passion for the topic. Today, we were reviewing. And I made sure we would be reviewing something I found interesting.

"Right," the professor said with a cautionary smile, glad to see someone was taking an interest in his class, even if that someone was usually the one who was sleeping in the corner. "So why was it that, if the first flight took place during 1893, that Osea didn't have its own a working airplane until 1907?" Again, my hand flew up but this time my neighbors hand joined mine as well. I glanced over at Whitney and she grinned at me with a smile that already had me getting ready for a competition.

"Can't let you have all the fun," she said in a quiet, teasing tone.

"Ms. Elsworth?" the man said calling on her, equally surprised yet anxious for more than one student's participation.

"Well," she began as she smiled at me wider before resuming, "while the Belken Empire almost immediately saw the advantage to a vehicle that could fly faster, higher, and was significantly smaller than an air-balloon, the rest of the world lacked the foresight to see the development as more than a gimmick. This view point was rather harshly changed in 1905 when the Belken Empire began an aggressive push into Osea out of fear of their growing influence. The Belken Air Force couldn't be stopped by inferior armies that didn't know how to deal with the threat of nimble airborne opponents. It can be argued that the only reason Osea doesn't speak Belken today is because of captured Belken planes that were reversed engineered in masses. As soon as Osea had its own planes though, it was found all too quickly that the Belken's hadn't only invented the airplane, but also how to fight and fly in it. Belken pilots quickly became reputed as masters of the sky, making one on one tactics pointless as the Belken's never recorded a single loss in such engagements. The first instance of a downed Belken pilot was a four on one engagement that ended with two of the original four Osean planes shot down. What the Osean's lacked in skill was made up by sheer numbers and the eventual disparity in numbers, as well as the beginnings of internal political division between southern and northern interests, pushed the Belken's back to their own territory and then some." The professor could barely contain his excitement at two students who were actually participating in his class.

"Impressive!" the man exclaimed, bringing all they eyes that had drifted to me and Whitney back to him. "You two seem to know quite a bit about this subject," he stated, the faintest of smiles coming to his lips.

"It's an intriguing history," I whispered to Whitney who smirked at the comment. She knew that the only reason I was getting into the discussion today was because of the subject matter. But then I began thinking. I knew why I was interested, but since when had Whitney ever shown any interest in Air Force history?

"Let's see how much of it you know," he said in a voice that was almost like a challenge, his smile ever-growing. "What was unique about the Belken pilots that separated them from their Osean counterparts?" I glanced at Whitney and she sighed and nodded her head at me to answer the question.

"Well, the main difference between the two was who they were. The majority of people who were allowed near a plane in the Belken Air Force were of aristocratic linage. It could be said that flying came naturally for most of these people, as gliding had been a popular past time for the well-to-do in Belken society years before powered flight was even a thing. Flying an airplane became a natural extension of this past time, some prominent families even owning their own plane manufacturing companies. Since there wasn't a large reserve of spare pilots in the Belken Air Force, there was no rotation, and no rotation meant that a good pilot got better and better or was killed. Compare this to the Osean's who were lagging behind in pilots, let alone trained, combat hardened ones. Those pilots who were deemed 'successful,' often meaning returned from an engagement, were taken away from the front lines to train more pilots in the hope that it would make the rookies more prepared to face the enemy. In the end, it was only overwhelming numbers that prevailed over the Belken's intense training."

"So," the man said, the smile on his mouth growing to its widest I had ever seen as he took a seat on the desk at the front of the lecture hall. "We won the first war with Belka with numbers. How did we win the second?" he asked. I spoke up again, not wanting to let Whitney in just yet.

"After the Osean War, the Belken Empire reformed itself into the Hoffnung Republic; named partially after the city where the victorious Osean's 'helped' the defeated Belken's draft a provisional constitution. It was quickly apparent that there were two distinct groups within Belka with differing opinions on political goals. The North, promoting Belken supremacy in all things, wanted nothing to do with the countries surrounding it, believing they were simply pieces of land that had been taken from their rightful Belken ownership. Then there was the South, which was much more mellow in comparison, yet still wanted Belken supremacy, but in a more discrete way, seeking to expand Belken influence with commerce and innovation. However, most Belken citizens were unified with their discontentment of their impoverished state, and the government was too weak to do anything about it. This paved the way for a new leader to take control of the country and begin to change it into an autocracy.

"Belken military spending skyrocketed as this new leader began to reach out to countries that were either too weak or too underdeveloped to resist an offer from Belka that promised military support in return for goods and services. For a while, the Belken people experienced a time of unprecedented growth and saw their new leader as flawless. However, laziness and complacency settled in soon after and mismanaged money caused a sudden downturn in the economies of all the nations Belka was tied to. Looking for someone to blame, the Belken government released propaganda to all of its territories placing blame on pretty much everyone outside of its control, saying they were the victim in unfair economic practices. In 1932, all the nations under Belken control came together under one leader to make another push into neighboring countries trying to gain more land and influence. Initial victories on the eastern front were plentiful, with the successes of campaign 'Blitzkrieg,' the Belken's were able to overtake large swaths of territory and hold it with their overwhelming air power. Progress on the western front was slower, but still evident in land gains." I glanced around the class and began to notice that some students were just staring at the two of us spout off knowledge to the professor. Whitney took my pause as an opportunity to start her own stream of knowledge.

"However, some countries in the Belken Hegemony were starting to become disenfranchised as more and more was demanded of them in order for Belka to continue its self-serving war. A turning point came in 1943, when the Tyler Islands in the Spring Sea, one of the many island chains Belka had incorporated, surrendered to allied troops. The island was home to one of Belka's largest and most significant Research and Development labs as well as one of the infamous Flugmeister Akademien that were used to develop the legendary aces Belka is known for. While scientists continued the research that was found in the R&amp;D labs, tactics and strategies found at the flight school were taught to both allied pilots as well as the military members of the surrendered island. One of the most prominent squadron's that came from Tyler Island was known as the Suicide Squad. Their flight would take on sorties and missions that no one else would and gained a reputation as the most successful fighter squadron against the Belken forces. Within a year, the Allies had developed jet propulsion technology from their finds at Tyler Island and were quickly beginning to change the tide of war with victories stemming from superior technology and improved training. By 1947, the war ended with Belka in shambles. They would try to sell off land to other countries to stay afloat until 1995."

"You two make it sound like Osea just caught one lucky break after the other," the man said, an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"In a way, that's exactly what happened, sir," I said to finish off. I caught a glance from Whitney as she just smiled in contempt at the professors shocked expression. After that, the class took a turn for the more... boring parts of recent history. Me and Whitney settled into our usual roles and just passed a piece of paper between us for the rest of class.

'Since when were you a history buff,' she had written in her cliché girly handwriting after the professor retook the classroom.

'When I discovered it picked up a lot of girls,' I wrote back in my comparative chicken scratch. When Whitney read that, she shaded a deep red and made a snorting sound in an attempt not to laugh. The professor that had looked upon us so admiringly before now sent us a warning glare. Once she recovered she took the sheet and began scribbling away.

'You're terrible,' was all that was written.

'I guess I just really liked learning about the history of aerial combat,' I wrote down before adding, 'When did you get your history degree?' I was curious as to what her excuse would be. She took the note and read it smiling at the first part and contorting her face in thought at the second.

'I don't know. My dad and his dad before him and so on were all in the military. I guess when you grow up hearing stories, some of them stick. We still going to get lunch after class?' I guess I could believe her reason for her seemingly sudden interest in Air Force history, yet something just seemed, untrue. Ignoring the feeling I looked up at her and nodded at her as the class was dismissed. We were both ten paces from the door when the professor cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Mr. Irving? Ms. Elsworth? A word please?" We both froze in place and stayed there for a good two seconds before turning to look at each other and starting the trek to the front of the lecture hall. The man shifted his glance between the two of us as the rest of the class exited the room, the occasional student casting an empathetic glance before hurrying out of the room. Once the room was clear and empty the man began to speak again. "Today, I saw two students who normally don't contribute more than a snore to my class have a passion for history that reminded me of my own many years ago. But it was gone almost as fast as it came." He looked conflicted with emotions of pride and disappointment. "I know you two haven't had the best of grades in my lecture, but after what I saw today, I'm beginning to wonder if it's just because I haven't shown you the right parts of history yet. I know you two are more than capable of getting passing grades in here; your knowledge of past conflicts rivals that of some of the people in my department. So I'm going to make a proposal to you two." I just looked at the man in shock. And then Whitney and I looked at each other. Then back to the professor who seemed to be enjoying himself.

"I'm going to give you the chance to make up all those points that you missed out on earlier this semester. You both seem to have a keen interest in past conflicts, and I can't blame you; it's just as colorful and varied as it is bloody. If you both come up with a fifteen page essay about any conflict in Osean history, I will see to it that some of your worst grades in my course are... forgiven. Please don't squander this opportunity. As boring and pointless as this course may seem, there is a reason we learn history." After a couple of seconds of blank stares from us, he decided to elaborate what he meant. "We learn it to avoid repeating it. Maybe with you two looking closer at conflicts, you will see that more clearly than many others will. I want to see those papers by finals next week. You're free to go now." The man just turned around and began to pick up his teaching materials as me and Whitney looked at each other before walking out of the lecture hall and heading off to one of the dining halls on campus.

"Did that-" Whitney began to ask before I cut her off.

"Yeah," I responded to her unfinished statement, eyes glued ahead as we walked into the eating facility.

"This could really help me out," Whitney said, thinking to herself.

"Tell me about it," I said as I joined a line of students who were waiting to be served a helping of cheesy pasta. Once Whitney and I were seated, she spoke up again.

"What are you going to do yours on?"

"Huh?" I asked, too absorbed in admiring my food to have full functionality of my brain.

"You're essay, you cave man," she said jokingly calling my attention back to her. "What are you going to write your essay about?"

"Oh," I said trying to appease her intrigue. I really just wanted to start eating and talk afterwards but I got the feeling she wouldn't let that slide. "Um, I don't know yet," I said distractedly. I took a bite of my food before she felt tempted to ask another question, relishing in the copious amounts of cheese my meal offered.

"Pathetic," she mumbled before starting with her own plate of the stuff. After a few moments of us just eating, she spoke up again. "I think I'll do mine on the Cold War. There was so much stuff that was developed in secret by both sides. I wonder how much they still have hidden from each other even though we are still 'at peace.' When should we do them?" she asked me as I was about to put another fork-full of food in my mouth.

"We?" I asked, unsure what she meant.

"Yeah, you know together, doing work? We should work on them together that way we can help each other out. Like, stay on topic and stuff. It'll be like all those times back in high school." I couldn't help but smile at that. Whitney and I were usually partners in high school projects, mostly because she was one of the only people who would be my partner. Then my smile grew, because while we always did complete our projects, we were better at getting each other off topic than on it.

"If it'll be like all the times back in high school," I started with a chuckle, "then we'll never get those essays done." She tried to act offended but her smile just broke through.

"Whatever," she sighed as she prepared herself for her next bite of food. "We can still do it together though, right?" she asked before filling her mouth.

"Yeah, sure. We can do it together. Besides, it'll be interesting to see what you turn up and I'm sure my subject, whatever it will be, will have some cool stuff as well." I resumed my eating without further interruptions from Whitney. I kept finding myself thinking back to high school now that she had mentioned it. "How's Chuck been?" I asked her after a momentary pause in my meal. I hadn't seen him around at all and while I assumed he was going to a different university, I knew of other people who were often visited by their boyfriends and girlfriend's. Whitney slowly stopped eating and put her fork down on her plate. I noticed how she was starting to try and act very orderly which meant that she was feeling the exact opposite at the moment, probably wanting to do something that would look crazy. I began to backtrack. "Um, you know what, never mind. How have you-"

"No," she said calmly, closing her eyes but twisting the napkin that was in her clenched hands. "No, it's fine. It'll be good to talk about it. Just..." she glanced over at me with concerned eyes. I decided that right now would be a good time to stop eating and give my best friend my full attention. "Just don't interrupt until the end." I was starting to think about interrupting right then and there but didn't as she started again. "So, you know how at graduation, they read off all the scholarship recipients, you being one of them?" I nodded my head. It had been a surprise to me that they had done that and an even bigger one as applause accompanied the announcement, a fair bit of it coming from my classmates. "Well, you'd never know it just looking at him, but... Charles... he can be a little... competitive. We were sitting next to each other when that announcement came out and I could just feel him tense up. I was super happy and started clapping and whistling for you and all of the other people who got the awards, but Charles, he just kind of sat there and stayed quiet." I noticed the Whitney wasn't calling Charles 'Chuck' anymore and I could already see where this story would end. But I was still very concerned about the ride there.

"By the end of the night, he's muttering under his breath and I'm starting to get a little concerned. When the whole graduation ceremony is over, he goes storming off, grabbing some of his friends. I'm worried about him, you know? After a year and a half of being with someone, you know when they're acting... off. So I follow him towards a more empty part of the field where there are some unoccupied bleachers and I hear him talking." She paused again and I'm starting to get impatient with her slow re-accounting of our graduation night, but wait for her to continue just the same. "'That Usean bastard is going to be lucky if the Air Force takes him after tonight,'" she said silently. It took me a moment to realize she was telling me what Charles had said. After a silence between us that was entirely too long, she spoke again. "It turns out, he was competing for that scholarship too. But I learned from one of his friends later that had just been the straw that broke his back." She looked down into her lap and was quiet for a while.

I knew I was by no means a professional confidant. In fact, you would be safe in saying I was clueless about a lot of social interactions. But I knew right then that Whitney needed a friend really bad. I reached out my hand and took hers reassuringly. She seemed surprised at first, admittedly, I was too, but eventually, she seemed to take strength in my offered hand. She nodded her head like she was agreeing to something I said and looked back up to me with red eyes.

"The main reason me and Charles were even going out was because he was one of the only guys who didn't have a problem with you, or so it had seemed. I don't even know how well I actually knew him now. Anyways, it turns out that he thought you were just pulling me further and further away from him, interrupting our dates, which you didn't, don't even try to blame that on yourself, and just taking advantage of me while he wasn't around." Her attitude changed for a second to one of ferocity. "It makes me sick now," she spat. "That I was with someone as bigoted and possessive as him." She now looked drained, like the outburst had sapped the life out of her. "When I had heard him say what he did, I stepped out from around the corner and faced him and his friends. He was more than surprised to see me there, but, the way he recovered so fast, knowing that I had heard what he said but still not letting it bother him..." She closed her eyes again and dropped her head, picking it back up in a second. "'He's going to pay for what he's done to us,' he told me as he began to try to walk past me. I got in front of him and I told him that you hadn't done anything to him and me, that the only reason I was breaking up with him now was because of what I had just heard and seen and not because of anything you could've done." She stopped again and just stared at her food, trying not to make a scene in the dining hall that I was beginning to realize was still pretty crowded. "He hit me."

I felt the blood run from my face, hands, back; my whole body just went cold. My brain began to blank, only base functions barely running at a normal capacity. I had heard of abuse before. Everyone has. But it was always someone else, somewhere far away from me. To know that one of my closest friends, to know that Whitney, a person who could be so full of life, a person who was just like every other person who could be considered normal, had gone through something like that, I shook me to the core of my being.

"Was that why I didn't see you that night?" I asked distantly. She could only nod her head, not trusting her voice. I tugged our joined hands to pull her into a hug that she had no objections to. I just held her there and stared at the wall in front of us, my mind still trying to return to a normal functioning state.

"Caden?" she asked after a few moments of me holding her. "Caden, don't think about doing anything stupid," she said. That only caused me to start.

"I'm not thinking of anything stupid," I told her in a voice that was filled so much malice, I wouldn't have been surprised if Charles began to fear for his life where ever he was. "I'm only thinking of doing what's just." I felt her start to push herself out of my arms and freely let her get back up and seated.

"No," she said firmly, wiping her eyes. It was a good thing Whitney didn't wear make-up. "You're above anything he is," she said. "Promise me that you'll just forget about him. He doesn't even deserve a thought from you." I just stared at her, still not believing that she had gone through what she had. "Promise me," she repeated again. I only nodded, knowing I could never truly promise something like that. "Good." We both looked at our empty plates for a while. "How about we meet up tomorrow and get started on those essays?" she asked, initiating a much needed change in subject.

"Okay," I said. We picked up our dishes and brought them to the return area.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Whitney said as we walked out of the dining hall.

"Yeah," I said simply, watching her wipe at her eyes again. She began to walk off towards her residence area and I was about to do the same before she turned around and spoke to me again.

"Caden?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being a real, honest friend. Not many people get to have those." I smiled weakly as I remembered our day in physics that seemed like eons ago.

"I accept you for you," I told her. She seemed lost for only but a moment before a new tear came to her face, one that wasn't caused by sadness but by something else completely.

"Ditto," she called out before turning away and continuing on her way. I called my dad once I had gotten back to my own room. It was a strange call.

"Hey dad."

"Caden! Hey, it's good to hear your voice. How are your-"

"Charles hit Whitney."

"..."

"Did you-"

"Yeah... I heard you." There was a pause before he spoke again. "When?"

"Graduation night."

"Was that why we didn't see her?"

"Yeah."

"They aren't still together, are-"

"No, no."

"I see." Another pause. "I've got to go."

"Dad?" but the line was dead. While Andrew and I weren't biologically related, we both had a short fuse when it came to injustice. I knew if he wasn't stopped, something bad was about to happen. So I called Elizabeth.

"Mom?"

"Hey, honey. Your father just-"

"You need to stop him."

"What?"

"Just keep him from doing whatever he's trying to do."

"Caden, what's going-"

"Mom, really. You just need to stop him."

"ANDREW! DAMIT ANDREW, YOU GET BACK IN HERE RIGHT NOW! ANDREW?! WHAT THE HELL?! IS THAT A-" The line clicked off after that. I reverted back to the state that I had been in when Whitney had told me she had been hit. I paced around my room until it was seven in the evening and practically pounced on my phone when it began ringing.

"Hello?" I asked, desperately hoping it wouldn't be the police telling me my father had been arrested for killing a young man named Charles.

"Explain," my mother demanded.

"Charles hit Whitney."

"Chuck? But he was..."

"She told me, mom."

"..."

"Mom?"

"Why did you make me stop your father?"

"Wait. What? Seriously?!"

"That boy was due whatever was coming his way!" I sat there stunned for a moment before I asked my own question.

"What did he walk out with?"

"..."

"Please tell me he didn't walk out into the street with the shotgun."

"No," she said defensively. After a significant pause of me waiting she continued. "It was the bat."

"Oh my... really?"

"How did you know he-"

"Mom, he's dad. Just... don't let him do anything. Okay? Whitney told me to forget about him anyway so you guys should too."

"Fine. Just don't tell your father stuff like that then. You know how he gets."

"Okay."

"I love you sweetie."

"I love you too, mom. Tell dad I love him as well."

"Okay. Good night, Caden."

"Good night." I put the phone down and took a couple of breathers. I needed some sleep.

**.oOo.**

As I fell asleep in my dream, I woke up in reality. My back ached and my neck was sore from my poor choice in where to sleep. The wetness around my mouth told me I had probably drooled a little too. I straightened up in my chair despite the complaints from my body and wiped my face with my shirt in an attempt to get rid of the evidence of my drool. The room was dark and the clock said it was late. I wanted to know if Kei was back yet and was about to leave to go find out when another voice in the room gave me an answer.

"Hey." I spun around in my chair towards the door of the room. She had some medical gauze around her right arm and some transparent wound-closing tape above her left eye, but she seemed fine otherwise.

"Kei," I muttered softly.

"Caden," she replied, a small smile flashing on her face before it returned to its neutral state.

"I... I need to tell you something. Something you already know, but I have to say it just the same."

"Caden, I don't want to make you feel like you have to say, or do, anything-" she started, concerned that she was somehow forcing me to do what I was about to.

"No, this is from my heart and it needs to be said to make it real for both of us." I took a large breath and got up from my chair and approached hers, noticing she was becoming less composed as I approached. When I was standing next to her, I reached down and took her hand, encouraging her to stand up with me. Once we were standing together, close enough for me to smell the still present scent of antibiotics that the medical crews on the Kestrel had used on her, I put my arms around her in a hug that I tried to channel my need for her through. I moved my mouth towards her ear and said the three words that would change our relationship yet again. "I love you." Her own arms tightened around me and we just continued to stand there until she sighed in contentment.

"I love you, too," she replied. Despite the world at war around me, I was at peace in this moment and wished it would never end.


	21. -Coming Out-

**Coming Out**

The next day, Chopper and Grimm joined Kei and I as we were sitting in the crew room, just enjoying each other's company. Covertly.

"Look whose back," Chopper said, using the oldest cliché in the book of cliché.

"Welcome back, ma'am," Grimm said, continuing his use of verbal formality even as he stepped towards Kei for a hug. After she gave Chopper and him a quick bear hug each, they both sat down as she took her spot on a couch across from me once again.

"So, how was it?" Chopper asked as he prepared to get ready for a long story by wiggling his butt into the chair he had planted himself in.

"How was what?" Kei asked, a small smile on her face at the possibility of getting a rise out of Chopper. A possibility that quickly became a reality.

"What was it like, you big goof! It must've been something to have all those Yukes chasing you and not knowing if you were going to get out or not."

"I never doubted I would get out," she said looking at me with a look that I hoped Chopper and Grimm wouldn't pick up on. "But it was something," she continued looking back at Chopper and then Grimm.

"Well, tell us about it, then!" Chopper said throwing his hands up in the air in a half playful, half frustrated manner, either missing the look Kei had shot me or ignoring it in favor of trying to get some actionable details on Kei's experience. I had to admit to being just as curious as Chopper. I hadn't asked Kei yet, partially because I didn't know if she was ready to talk about it and partially because I knew she would tell me about it when she was ready.

"Well," she began with a contemplative look coming across her face as if the event were years ago instead of a few days. After a moment, she brought her gaze back to us to begin. "They're starting to get sick of this war, just like we are."

"Who are, ma'am?" Grimm asked, a confused scowl on his face.

"The Yuktobanian's," Kei answered casually.

"And you know this how?" Chopper asked disbelievingly

"When the helicopter that was sent to get me crashed, I ran over to the wreckage to check for survivors," Kei began. I got myself into a more comfortable position to listen, I could tell this was going to be a story. "When I got there, both the pilot and co-pilot were in their seats unconscious. I had realized my radio had stopped working when I landed because it was unusually quiet so after I made sure both pilots were okay, I tried to find another working radio but there was nothing salvageable. I dragged both pilots away from the plane before I rigged the plane for demolition per regulations. When the explosion went off, it got the two pilots up. One, the co-pilot I think, had something wrong with their right leg. After me and the other pilot made sure it wasn't broken we started heading towards what we thought was south east, knowing that was where friendly forces would be." She paused to close her eyes and shake her head.

"The pilot with the bum leg kept telling us to leave him behind, that he was slowing us down too much." She opened her eyes and looked at me quickly, a weak smile on her face. "He reminded me of when I first met you, all willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Had to give him a similar pep talk I gave you to get him to stop with that train of thought." She turned her attention back towards Chopper and Grimm. "Anyways, we kept going the way we thought was safe. I tried covering our tracks on the way and the other pilot who still had two good legs was helping the other limp along. We were doing great until the next day. That was when we were walking and stopped and stood dead still when we heard the distant sound of tanks and trucks. I guess we started getting sloppy covering our trail because it seemed they started getting closer and closer until..." Kei stopped for a moment and brought her hands up and clapped three times and after a short pause, once more. "Boom, boom, boom... boom." She looked back over at me. "When Blaze shot down those four planes, everything on the ground seemed to stop moving. Even the birds seemed to be quiet. That was when I knew I was going to be home within the day, if not the hour. But as soon as that moment of silence was up, things got hectic fast." She paused again to close her eyes and focus on remembering.

"We were right next to a patrol that looked like it was going to pass us when a lone solider stumbles on us. Before he can call one of his buddies, I pull my pistol on him and he flings his arms up. After an impromptu interrogation, I find out the Yuktobanian's are just as tired and doubtful of this war as we are. They aren't sure how it all started and how it came to be, they just want it to be done. Especially now with the Demons of Razgriz."

"What of whata?" Chopper asked not sure if he heard right.

"The Demons of Razgriz. It's what they're calling us now. After sinking two of their most powerful subs, they kind of get scared when they know we're flying in their airspace." The smirk on Kei's face told me she was very proud of the title the Yuktobanian's had given us. The stupid grin growing on Chopper's told me he was already going back into his movie fantasies.

"I thought you didn't like war," Grimm asked. Kei's smirk immediately disappeared into worry.

"Oh, no. No, I hate this stupid war and all it stands for. But ever since we lost the Arkbird as an asset, the Yuktobanian's didn't have a reason to end this war. What I'm so proud of is that in a weird and convoluted sense, we have become a symbol of hope for peace by being as great a threat as the Arkbird to the Yuktobanian's." Her smile came back slightly. "Whatever works, right?"

"Well," Chopper said, getting up after long span of silence that was most likely filled with day dreams of future interviews, "it's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," Kei replied as she rose to hug him again. A few moments after he and Grimm left the room, she turned to me. "You know," she began, getting up once again and approaching the couch I was seated on. "All I could think about before you came back to rescue me was if I'd get to see you again," she said as she sat down next to me and put her head into my shoulder. I was at first surprised by the close contact in such an open area and worried that someone would walk in on us having a... moment. But as Kei began to speak again, I found it harder and harder to worry about such irrelevant things. "I don't know how much longer I can allow this war to go on," she said in a mix of a sad and joking voice. "If it takes you from me..."

"Just imagine how hard it was for me." I replied. "You were actually shot down." We just stayed there for a moment thinking our own respective thoughts.

"How are we going to get through this?" Kei asked. I took a deep breath before answering.

"We'll get through this like everything else that's bound to get in the way of us... enjoying each other," I said, a slight smile coming up at remembering the conversation I had with Grimm. When Kei looked up at me I finished my thought before she asked what I was smiling about. "We'll get through it together," I said firmly, taking and squeezing her hand for emphasis. She smiled and gave me a quick kiss before returning her head to its spot on my shoulder.

While I had wished for that kind of peace to last forever, war eventually made its way back into my life. We were all in the mess hall enjoying a particularly good breakfast of Fato toast when we got the news that we were needed in the briefing room. We all groaned as we got up and left to go to the room where a grumpy Colonel would be. Once we had all been seated, said Colonel began the brief.

"Well, this is it. Our ground forces will engage in a decisive battle with the enemy's main force in the Jilachi desert. If our army wins this showdown of military might, we'll be just a hair away from total victory. We've still got some work for you too, so don't slack off now." With that, he pressed his button and sat down in a chair near the entry of the room.

"This mission will be referred to as 'Operation Desert Arrow.'" I could already hear a moan from Chopper as he heard the word desert. "The operation will be spread across the entire northern part of the Jilachi Desert. Its final target is two separate strategic positions, the field HQ in the northern region of the mission area and the airfield in the western region. A bomber squadron will attack the field headquarters, while the army force tank battalion will advance towards the airstrip. Your mission this time is to protect both units from defending enemy forces. This operation is spread out across the entirety of a wide command area and you'll also be up against a large number of enemy forces, so you'll be working jointly with another squadron, Mattock. 'Operation Desert Arrow' commences today at 1050 hours." Once the briefing had concluded, Perrault stood up again.

"I expect you all to work flawlessly with Mattock Squadron. They know a thing or two when it comes to following orders, as they've been appointed by Central Command to keep tabs on your performance in this mission, so be on your best behavior." The Colonel then looked directly at me and muttered under his breath, "or not," before leaving the room, a wicked grin on his pudgy face.

"Let's get ready, Wardog," I said to my flight, doing my best to ignore the Colonel's negativity. "Hey, Pops," I called out to the man as he was walking out of the hangars that Kei and I were about to walk into.

"Hey yourself," he replied, a sly smile on his face. "Try not to pass out when you walk in there. I hear they'll need you guys on this next mission. It'd be a shame if you couldn't go." With that, he patted me on the back and began to resume his leisure walk back to the main part of base. I was burning with curiosity as I opened the door to the hangar. Pops was right to warn me about not passing out. Inside the enclosure were two F-15C's. I was glued to my spot in the door frame until Kei was right behind me waiting to get into the hangar.

"Hey, Caden, you mind?" she asked as I blocked the entryway. She didn't wait for an answer and just shoved me a little to the point where I 'fell' out of my stupor. As I regained my balance, I looked at the one who had stolen it from me.

"We need to do something together," I told her out of the blue, her brown eyes pulling out feelings from me that I normally had to keep out of the public's eye.

"Uh..." Kei began, unsure what to say to the sudden suggestion. "Okay, when?"

"Soon, I don't know for sure when and where, but soon. I want to take you out on a proper date and not have it facilitated by us needing to be at a military function." She smiled slightly at the spontaneity of the suggestion and looked somewhat shyly back down at her helmet in her hands.

"I'd like that," she said, not meeting my eyes right away. "I'd like that a lot," she finished as she looked back up leaned in towards me for a quick kiss before sliding on her helmet and walking off towards her plane. After a few seconds of watching her walk off, I realized I needed to grab my helmet. Which was over by the lockers. Which were next to Chopper.

"'Not your girl,' huh?" Chopper said with a grin that I wanted to march over and smack off. "Don't worry I'll keep it under wraps." He quickly garbed his Personal Defense Weapon and hustled over to the door so he could head towards Grimm's and his hangar. "For now," he added as he bolted out the door. Great. Now he and Grimm knew. I glanced over at Kei who had stopped walking and lost all the color in her face, her mouth wide open. She finally made a move to close her mouth and get into her fighter. I sighed at the day not going too well for me so far except the F-15 thing, and maybe Kei's kiss, and grabbed my helmet to climb into the Eagle. My spirit almost immediately flew back up to the stratosphere when I entered the large cockpit. The ground crew had finally showed up and began to make the hangar ready for our planes to be pulled out. We were in the air in less than 10 minutes. The flight over to the Jilachi Desert took considerably longer especially with the long bout of awkward silence between us all. I was thankful for the reprieve in silence when I got a transmission over the radio.

"Wardog, this is Mattock Squadron lead Lieutenant Colonel Bailey 'Pick' Quarter. Do you copy?"

"Copy that, Pick. This is Wardog lead Captain Caden 'Blaze' Irving. Glad to have your support, ma'am." There was hardly a delay in response from the woman.

"'Have our support?' Captain, if anyone is acting in a supporting role here it is your squadron. Battlefield stories don't have any pull on me; I don't care how many submarine's you've sank. You will follow every order I give you and your people, do you understand?" Her flight could now be seen, four MiG 29's that, at first sight, made me panic.

Back during the Belken war, Osea and Yuktobania had a free exchange of airframes, a testament to the fact that both countries were throwing aside the Cold War for mutual progression. As a result, our country had some of their fighter airframes and they had some of ours. It made a lot of hard-right military leaders in both countries antsy; we now know each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as being able to practice against dissimilar fighters making some pilots better. Now, during the war, they were starting to see some of the benefits. Yuktobanian troops would hesitate to fire on an aircraft that looked like one of their mainstay fighters and lose because of it. I put aside my rationalization of why the Lieutenant Colonel had a MiG to answer her. "Yes ma'am," I said tersely, back to my short responses. I noticed that Chopper was moaning a little and that Kei's plane had once again drifted towards me.

"Good. Mattock squadron, sound off for Captain Blaze here before we have to refuel and get started with this operation. Name, rank and call-sign people. I don't want any unnecessary chatter like last time." I was beginning to not like having to cooperate with this woman more and more by the minuet.

"Good morning Wardog, I'm Captain Manuel 'Axe' Yuzta. Pleasure to fly with the four wings, though I hear the Yukes got a different name-"

"Yuzta, what did I say about unnecessary chatter?"

"Sorry, ma'am," the man said in a very submissive voice that was different from the almost joyful one that had been addressing us a moment ago.

"No, not yet you aren't," was the cold reply. "Prepare for some..." The woman seemed to catch herself from saying something before continuing. "... Disciplinary action when we get back. The rest of you, follow orders. Let's set a better example for these dogs than Yuzta did," the woman said underhandedly. It was like the Colonel had hand-picked our 'allies.'

"Captain Page 'Rod' Wickers," another female said, obviously not enjoying the harsh woman's rule.

"Captain Alisha 'Adze' Huygens," the last woman sounded off, no change in her tone compared to her partner.

"At least some members of my squad can understand simple commands," the woman said in a degrading tone towards me, as if I were supposed to be relating to her 'struggle.' I couldn't help but think that this woman would probably be similar to what Lieutenant Colonel Ford would've been like, a demander instead of a commander. I shivered at the thought. "I've got the refueling craft on scope. Wardog, you're up first for refueling. Don't take too long though. I don't want to fall out of the sky and tell command it was because I was waiting on some over-hyped fighter pilot." I looked out my canopy and thought for a second we were some kind of demonstrator squadron with how close Kei's plane was to mine. I just took the taunt as a challenge. Once I got clearance to refuel, I was hooked up and receiving within ten seconds, surprising even the air crew on board the tanker aircraft. Once I was done, the rest of Wardog refueled in the same quick fashion, putting a smirk on my face as the obviously flustered Mattock leader tried to perform just as fast of a refuel only to over shoot by a substantial margin and have to circle back around for a second attempt. I happened to glance over at Kei's plane and notice she too had a smile on her unmasked face.

After a very tense silence of two minutes, 'Pick' was refueled and her flight embarrassingly finished in a much faster order. We were beginning to enter the combat area when Chopper started speaking up.

"Man, this is ridiculous. I've heard that they've got another operation going on in some other part of the desert the same time as this one. At least we get to stick with our bread and butter with flying air superiority for these bombers."

"This is Thunderhead. Captain Davenport, how many times do I have to tell you to cut the chatter?" the man in the sky said. However, the reprimand wasn't filled with any ill contempt, rather, Thunderhead just sounded glad to have an opportunity to talk. I thought for a moment about how uninteresting it must be to stare at a radar scope waiting for a sortie to begin. I took a moment to appreciate the man who was Thunderhead.

"Thunderhead, this is Razgriz three, roger that."

"...What did you just say?" the man asked, clearly confused as to what Chopper was alluding to. But before Chopper could explain, 'Pick' jumped in with some questions of her own.

"Who said you would be doing any air to air?" the woman asked pointedly. "And what kind of flight lead allows their wingmen to engage in such chatter in the first place. I'm sure Command will love this..." I suddenly found an unexpected ally when Thunderhead spoke up again.

"This is AWACS Thunderhead. Lieutenant Colonel Quarter, Wardog squadron has been loaded out for an air to air engagement while your flight has been outfitted for an air to surface operation. Besides that obvious reason for the roles you will be serving, a reason that may not be as obvious to you is that Wardog has the highest kill count for airborne threats in this war for any squadron, surpassing those of all other squadrons... combined. Trust me on that, as I have counted each and every single one of them. As for Chopper... he's a work in progress," the man finished in a more lighthearted tone than he had started with. I grinned at the Thunderheads assessment of Chopper but any good feelings I had were taken away as 'Pick' spoke up again.

"Do you realize who you're speaking with, 'Thunderhead?'" the woman asked, a clear desire in her voice to berate the operator right there and then. What the man said next almost made me lose control of the very stable F-15C I was flying.

"Do you realize who you're speaking with, Lieutenant Colonel Quarter? Maybe I should reintroduce myself. Colonel Nathan 'Thunderhead' Brigham, AWACS controller for the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron, better known as Wardog of Sand Island." I was stunned and it seemed everyone else was too. I hadn't realized that our controller was such a high ranking member, let alone someone who would stick their neck out as much as they had for us just now. By some amazing coincidence, I glanced over at Chopper as he was glancing over at me. All I saw was a drained white face and an open mouth that reminded me of the famous painting, 'The Yell.' The unintended radio silence was interrupted by the Osean bomber squadron my flight would be helping out today.

"Our target is the enemy's field HQ. Initiating bomb run! Viking one to support fighters. Requesting escort to target!" Then the tank battalion that Mattock squadron would be supporting called in.

"Hawk division, begin your advance! Target enemy airfield! Attention Air Force. Requesting CAS for our unit!" One of the airmen on the bombers suddenly spoke up again.

"Don't worry, we'll be all right. We've got the Sand Island Squadron escorting us." Another air member spoke soon after his buddy, addressing us directly.

"Sand Island Squadron? You're the heroes of the Razgriz Straits?" It felt weird to be called a hero, especially since the squadron that was with us was here partially because we were still under review by Capital Air Command.

"You bet they are," Thunderhead said proudly, driving home the point that he was supporting us one hundred percent.

"The Sand Island Squadron is here!" the man shouted. "This operation is going to succeed." The enthusiasm was contagious and I was pretty sure everyone except 'Debbie Downer,' aka 'Pick,' had a smile on their face.

"Wait, what squadron's escorting us?" one of the bomber pilots asked.

"It's the one that sunk two of those giant subs. Guess we can rely on them," his co-pilot responded.

"Captain, did I ever mention my brother?" Grimm asked.

"Yeah, you mentioned him once, back at that pick-nick with Chopper's family."

"I look up to him a lot. He's a big reason why I chose this job. If he's okay, he should be participating in this operation."

"Blaze, this is Thunderhead. I'm getting some... unusual radio transmissions from the enemy. I think you may find them amusing. Go ahead and change your frequency to the wide band." I followed the instruction of my... friend in a high place... and realized what he had meant by 'unusual.'

"Hey, are those guys?..."

"Yeah, no doubt about it. The Razgriz."

"Enemy planes targeting this area!... Is it 'them?'" There was a sudden chuckle from one of the bomber pilots.

"I'm sure glad the 'Demons of Razgriz' are on our side."

"Blaze, this is Edge. I'm picking up bandits on our nose about ten miles out. Let's engage them before they get too close to our bombers."

"Copy that Edge. Wardog, engage any and all bandits targeting our bombers at your own discretion. Help out Mattock if they request it." After a sound off of three 'Rogers,' we burned towards the target to begin the battle. We intercepted an eight strong squadron of Su-27's beginning an aerial battle with me and Kei taking on a formation that was higher up as Chopper and Grimm went for the lower flight. As we separated for the different flights, they broke down further into their elements.

"Blaze, you go for two and I'll go for the other two, okay?" Kei suggested.

"Good," I replied curtly as I pulled up sharply, the F-15 making me scrunch up in my seat as I pulled a seven G maneuver. I danced around with the two Flankers, getting close to being able to fire off a shot at one but having to break off just before I could launch because of their wingman on my tail. Finally starting to get fed up with the annoying tail, I cut the engines, applied the air brake and fell behind the enemy before engaging full after-burn to catch back up with the second plane. Realizing they were going to be in trouble soon, they must've radioed the first plane because they broke off to fall behind me. I tried to catch up with the second plane but it was already going too fast. But the plane that had turned to come for me... I readjusted my nose to point into the flight path of the first plane and after a short burst from the gun, I had my fist kill of the day. I was starting to match the speed of the plane I had originally meant to shoot down and after we performed high speed scissors, I had a second kill.

"How you doing, Edge?" I asked as I turned to find her again.

"Working on my second plane..." After a brief pause, there was a grunt and then a second transmission. "Scratch that, looking for new targets." I flew down to join her side as we moseyed our way back towards the bombers to fly tight cover for them. Chopper and Grimm were just finishing up when we got a call over the radio.

"We have a sit-rep from advancing allied forces," Thunderhead said as Grimm and Chopper formed up on me. "Listen up."

"This is Viking one. Everything on schedule so far."

"This is Hawk one. Currently under light enemy attack. No hindrance to our advance."

"You got that? Keep up the good work Wardog," Thunderhead told us. "Mattock Squadron, do you need assistance?"

"This is Captain Huygens, affirm-"

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Quarter. Disregard that, we're doing fine, over."

"Lieutenant Colonel Quarter, are you sure about your last?" Thunderhead asked again.

"I said we're fi- Dammit!" the woman yelled as there was a loud explosion over the radio.

"Pick!" Thunderhead yelled. "Come in Mattock one!"

"I'm gonna have to bail out. AA rounds hit my plane. Mattock two, take charge. Don't screw this up." There was a loud crack as the radio cut out.

"Right then," Mattock two, or 'Axe,' said. "As my first action as Mattock lead, I request support form Sand Island Squadron."

"Well received," I told the pilot. "Chopper, Grimm, get over there and help them out while we stay and cover the bombers."

"Copy that, Kid. Moving to help out Mattock."

"Blaze, this is Thunderhead. More enemy targets are headed towards the bombers. Looks like another eight plane formation."

"Blaze copies," I told the man. "Edge, make sure the battle link is engaged between our planes and switch to your AM-RAAM's. Let's see if we can't take down all eight of them at once."

"Copy that Blaze," Kei said, catching the same mischievous tone in her voice as I had. We pulled ahead of the bombers again and got the next flight of Su-27's on scope. When our locks were registered to their planes, most broke off course and tried to turn and run. That just gave us their sixes.

"Fox three, fox three," Thunderhead said as Kei and I launched eight of our twelve combined missiles at the targets. Out of the eight planes that we targeted six were hit directly by the missiles and one was forced to eject when derbies struck it. The eighth turned tail and after-burned away back towards the airfield. As we returned to our patrol around the bombers, we got another transmission from the Yuktobanian's.

"Is this all that's left?" A single engine could be heard and I realized it was the plane we had let go landing in the background.

"Bad news, Voskhod one," the pilot who was landing said. "Those guys are definitely the Razgriz."

"This is Chopper, all enemy forces around our tanks have been neutralized."

"Copy that Chopper. Stick around until Mattock squad gets sick of you."

"Aw, these guys?" Chopper replied in a mock offended voice. "These guys love me!"

"Is this what it's always like with you guys?" the woman I recognized as 'Adze' asked.

"What do you mean?" Grimm asked in a confused tone.

"All... friendly, and stuff," the other woman, 'Rod' replied.

"I guess," Grimm replied, not realizing just how unique our squadron was with the amount of camaraderie between us all. Or as the Colonel may have called it, fraternization. Well... he wouldn't necessarily be ALL wrong... before any further questions could be asked by Mattock squadron, new enemy ground units spoke up.

"The guys in the air keep saying that the Razgriz are up there."

"You're kidding," his partner replied quickly with a bit of laughter in his voice. After an all too telling pause, he continued with a much more somber tone. "Really?"

"Blaze, Edge, you've got more bandits closing in with the bombers. Only four planes this time. You're making a dent in their firepower," Thunderhead relayed to us. Kei and I began to intercept the fighters, another flight of Flankers. After a short gun engagement we returned to our patrol area above the bombers.

"Damn, Voskhod four didn't last a minute against them!" someone from the enemy airfield said.

"I didn't hear anything about having to deal with these monsters!"

"I see it! Tally ho on the enemy field HQ!" one of the bombers we were escorting called out. After a few more seconds, they spoke up again. "Drop everything you've brought with you!" Another airman then made the announcement that marked the release of over a hundred bombs.

"Pickle! Pickle!"

"This is Viking four, bombs away!"

"Aim carefully. Drop 'em right on top of the enemy Captain!"

"We won't get another chance at this. Stay cool and make it count!"

"Here's the last one! Make it pretty!" As the ripple of explosions began to subside below us, the lead of the bomber formation spoke up again.

"This is Viking one. Looks like the enemy fighters are gone, returning to previous flight path. Bombing run on field HQ is complete. All right, no point in sticking around. Let's go home! Escort fighters, thanks for all your support!"

"This is Grimm. Chopper, Mattock squadron and I have captured the airfield with the tanks."

"Copy that Archer," Thunderhead said. "Looks like you all can begin to use the captured airfield to refuel and head back to- wait." There was a long pause as the man seemed to be pulled away for a moment. "Enemy AWACS detected. Destroy it and maintain our air superiority over the battlefield."

"I'll be sending out orders," another voice over the radio said. If I were to guess, it was the enemy AWACS plane. "Don't worry and focus on the fight. Provide cover for our retreating ground forces. That is all!"

"Wardog," I said addressing my flight. "Let's take out that plane and get back home. I'm getting tired of this desert."

"This is Captain Yuzta, lead of Mattock squadron. Blaze, do we have permission to join up with your squadron on the attack of the enemy AWACS?" I almost snorted at the man's request. Who asks if they have permission to help out? Then I realized that if a certain someone was still flying right now, there might have been severe repercussions on the man even now.

"This is Blaze. Permission granted. I'll never turn down an offer for help." My flight joined up with me along with Mattock squadron. As we streaked towards the location our AWACS had given us for the mobile command center, another enemy plane spoke up.

"There are only a few enemy planes. Why are the guys on the ground so upset?"

"We're tracking seven planes on radar." There was a pause as the man seemed to be processing information. "Warning! Four of the contacts are believed to be the Razgriz!"

"Who are these Razgriz guys you keep ranting about?" one of the enemy planes asked.

"They're the demons who sunk the Hrimfaxi!"

"Zenit Squadron, roger. Awaiting your orders," the pilot who had asked about us said with vigor in his voice that barely hid his rage.

"Attack the Razgriz and all supporting aircraft!"

"Warning!" Kei yelled out to us. "Enemy formation overhead. The enemy has a large aerial force." I checked my radar to confirm and was starting to become discouraged as I saw upwards of twenty enemy aircraft in front of us.

"All planes," I started, "engage at will. Don't be afraid to call in for back up if you need it." With that, I applied full dry thrust and my F-15 rocketed into AM-RAAM firing range. I only had two of my missiles left but when I fired, they were shortly joined by two others from Kei's plane. All four missiles made contact with the flight that had been trying to intercept us.

"You won't lose me that easily," Kei said. While I couldn't have seen her face unless I had x-ray vision, I knew she was smiling mischievously under her oxygen mask. Her attitude getting me in the mood, I decided to play a little game.

"Let's see who drops more planes," I said, engaging the after-burners and pulling ahead with a burst of acceleration. I found my first cluster of planes and slowed down a little before opening fire on one of the lead planes, destroying the airframe. And making the others break off. I choose one of the craft and began following it, dodging fire from all his wingmen who were trying to get a lock on me.

"These guys are good. They're more than I can handle!" one of the planes following me said as he pulled away, Kei on his tale.

"Dammit, I've never seen maneuvers like that before!" another said as I pulled up sharply to avoid a hap-hazardously fired missile only to come back down again to resume my chase on the plane in front of me. After a couple more seconds of chasing, I had gotten a firing solution and the plane was falling from the sky.

"Since when did Osea produce fighter pilots like these?!" one of the enemy fighters yelled. I began to pull up to get a new vantage point and when I did I almost smiled at the sight. It was a fur-ball worthy of the name, planes making white contrails all over the airspace, missiles missing and impacting, burning wreckage still falling to the ground. I noticed that Grimm and Chopper had joined up and that Mattock squadron was still sticking together. That just left-

"Blaze! I've got three of these guys on my back! I need some help here!"

"Copy that, Edge." I said as I dove down on the only lone friendly plane that had three planes trailing it. I dual locked my sidewinders and fired, both streaking towards the planes closest to Kei. One of the enemies was downed while the other deployed countermeasures and broke off only to be engaged by Grimm and Chopper. The last plane held course with Kei even with me right behind them. I perused the opponent with all my determination, always just missing a solid gun firing solution.

"Zenit 11! He's right on my tail and closing! Help me!" the plane in front of my cried out.

"I'm not in a position to support you. You're on your own!" his ally replied. The response seemed to demoralize the person I was pursuing because they finally let off on their maneuvering. After a couple of 20mm rounds, the plane was decimated and Kei's six was sanitized.

"You good?" I asked her as she formed up on my wing.

"Yeah. Seven."

"Huh?"

"Seven planes. What'd you get?"

"Really? I just save you from getting shot down and you want to see who won the competition?"

"You lost didn't you?"

"There's still the AWACS," I said as I completed my kill count in my head. If I got the AWACS, we'd be tied.

"Actually," Captain Huygens said, "we just knocked that giant thing out. So... what's this about a competition?"

"I think that Kid just lost to his girlfriend," Chopper said making the airspace go silent. Chopper must've realized what he said because he began to backtrack. "I mean... uh..."

"What do you mean, 'his girlfriend,'" Captain Wickers asked, a confused undertone evident in her voice.

"So it finally happened," Thunderhead said unexpectedly in a somewhat contemplative tone. "I'll have to see when Pops wants his money..."

"I can't believe this is happening..." I heard Kei mutter under her breath.

"Captain Irving," Grimm called out. "I just want you to know I said nothing to Chopper about... you know..."

"Wait?!" Chopper exclaimed. "How long did you know?!"

"What's going on here?" Captain Yuzta asked, clearly confused.

"THUNDERHEAD," I shouted over all the chatter. After a brief silence, I continued. "What's the combat situation?"

"Right, enemy AWACS shot down, mission complete. Refuel at the captured runway." I made my heading the landing strip we had captured and remained quiet the whole trip there, everyone else following suit.


	22. -Bursting Out-

**Bursting Out**

When we landed at the airfield and got out of our planes, allied ground forces began running towards us as fast as they could with big silver kegs being carried among them.

"What's this?" I asked one of the soldiers who raced towards me to shake my hand.

"The Yukes thought they'd be 'generous' and 'share' a couple of gallons of their vodka with us grunts! We thought we'd do the same with the guys who gave us the great air support!"

"ALRIGHT!" Chopper yelled as he practically fell from his plane in the hurry to get to the glistening kegs. As he put his hand to the wet metal of the barrel, his grin got wider. "IT'S STILL COLD!" he yelled, eliciting similar cheers and fist pumps from the crowd around him holding the large vessel of liquid. I rolled my eyes at their antics and turned back towards the soldier who had greeted me.

"Has the pilot who was downed been recovered yet?"

"No, but we have teams out looking for her now," he replied, casting a worried glance in Choppers direction.

"Make sure to warn them to be as uptight and ridged as possible if they find her."

"Ah," the man said nodding his head and returning his gaze to me. "One of those types."

"Yeah," Captain Yuzta said as he joined our little gathering and shook my hand. "She and I were both Academy grads. Let's just say she... 'Embraced' the ego that comes with that place." The pilot turned towards me and looked me over. "Don't take this the wrong way, but... you're a lot younger than I expected."

"Well, he handles himself better than you do already," Captain Wickers said from behind him as she walked up to the group. "He can be any age he wants as long as he gets us home." As the tall woman, about Choppers height, joined the group and turned to faced me, she reached out a hand for a greeting. "Nice to meet you in person," she said warmly as I took her hand.

"Like wise," I replied as Kei walked up to my side. Before any of us could exchange further pleasantries, a loud click came from the soldier's radio.

"Staff Sergeant," the voice called out.

"Whatcha' got Specialist Reeves?"

"I think we found our pilot, but she's got her gun out and is pointing it at us." Captain Yuzta just winced his eyes shut and shook his head.

"Does your guy know the exact procedure of recovering a downed pilot?" he asked.

"There's a procedure for that?" the Staff Sergeant asked with a look on his face that could only be described by the word, 'panic.'

"I'll take that as a no. Let me see that radio, please. If we're going to recover her without any of our own guy's dying, I'm gonna' have to talk your guy through the process."

"Did Sea Goblin have a special procedure for you?" I asked Kei. She just looked up at me with a confused face that told me they hadn't.

"I was ready to jump on any helicopter that came for me," she replied as Yuzta took the radio.

"Specialist Reeves, this is Captain Yuzta."

"Good afternoon, Sir," the man responded with military precision.

"I'm going to walk you through the procedure that you will need to do. Make sure you do it exactly as I tell you in order to recover the pilot."

"There's a procedure for this?" The man asked in almost the same exact tone as the Staff Sergeant. I just smiled and began to follow the gaggle of people who were heading towards the captured bases facilities.

"What do you think her report on us is going to be like?" Kei asked in a worried tone as we walked towards the sun bleached buildings.

"Well, she was down and out for about half of the mission, so I'm not sure how much her report will be counted on." Kei nodded like she was thinking the same thing but still had a concerned look about her. "That said, I can bet that she already knew what the report was going to say before this mission and I'm guessing it would be something the Colonel back at Sand Island would put his stamp of approval on."

"Yeah," Kei said in a melancholy mood as I opened the door for her. "That's what I was thinking too," she admitted

"Hey," I said, first checking the halls to see if we were alone and then taking her hand to comfort her. She looked up at me with her brown eyes briefly only to look back down at the floor. "What's wrong?"

"It feels like I'm holding you guys back," Kei said without looking up. "First, I get the Captain shot down, then my heritage makes us the most likely scapegoat in a messed up civilian attack, and then I go and get shot down…"

"Kei," I said lifting up her head to get a view of her watery orbs. "Don't think for even a second that you're holding us back. The only people who are doing that are people with bitter minds and hearts. The reason the Captain was shot down was because he willingly took that missile for you. And if they hadn't shot it at you, it would've been shot at me, and the Captain would still be missing right now because he'd take that missile for any one of us. The reason we were charged with shooting that college was because there were politicians and military leaders who are still to short sighted and bigoted to see past their own noses." Kei put a faint smile on her face and tip-toed up to kiss me briefly. "That whole you getting shot down thing though, I mean, what was up with that." Luckily, Kei saw the humor in my jab and just resorted to punching me in the arm and sighing loudly.

"Let's go get something to eat," Kei said in a substantially better mood. "This heat is killing me." We reached the enemy's captured mess hall eventually, getting turned around a couple of times in the unfamiliar building. We eventually found our way to the eating area partially because of the loud noises that were emanating it. When we entered the room, we saw that some of those loud noises were coming from none other than Chopper.

"Kid, you gotta' try this stuff! It's like... like... stupid good!"

"Chopper, get down from the table before you hurt yourself. Do you realize that now we have to stay here until you sober up?"

"Oh, shit that's right! Shoot man, I'm sorry, like real sorry. But it's. So. GOOD."

"We're going to be here until noon tomorrow," I mumbled to Kei as we walked around the rambunctious people in the center of the room. As me and Kei found a stash of untouched bottled water, the Staff Sergeant I had met early came into the room.

"Captain Irving?" he asked to no one in particular, trying to get my attention.

"Right here," I said raising my bottle of water to give the man a visual of my position. As he walked over to me, he reached for a bottle of water for himself.

"Good Lord," the man muttered as he sniffed the air. "That alcohol smells like pure kerosene." Shaking his head to clear his senses, he turned back towards us saying, "If this woman is anything like this Captain Yuzta is saying she is, and by what's going on with her pick up right now, I want to be completely sober when I meet her."

"Is she on her way back?" Kei asked, quickly taking another sip of her water.

"Yeah. There were, like, thirty steps to that damn procedure. I think I'm going to try and get Reeves a promotion."

"Well, let's go meet her," I said, reaching down for another bottle of water to offer the Lieutenant Colonel when we saw her. Once we were all outside and waiting with the remainder of Mattock Squadron, I decided to strike up a conversation with Yuzta.

"What was it like at the Academy?"

"What do you mean?" the Captain asked in an unsure voice.

"Well, how was it different from…" my question fell apart when I realized how stupid it was. How was he supposed to know how it was different from a normal college when the Academy was all he had known?

"Hey, at least you realized it before you finished. Most people have to have it explained to them," the man said in a light mood, making me feel like less of a complete idiot. "I guess, from what I've heard from everyone else, that they make us a lot more book smart and physically fit than most folks. But there's a trade-off."

"What do you mean?" Grimm asked.

"Well," the man said turning towards Grimm. "At the Academy, you're told you're the best from the get-go. I mean, how else did you get there, right? That starts the long process of building up a superiority complex that a lot of people never lose. You see, other officers, they had to go through the scholarship program or OTS. They have real world experience and interactions that typically are avoided at the Academy. In that sense, we tend to be less... mature and… cooperative, than most other officers. Most of the time, we outgrow it. I'd like to think I did. They sent me off to work at a base in Shannon city as my first job. Let's just say that place will mature you real fast. You realize that not everything can work as rigidly as it does in the Academy and sometimes leniency is required in certain situations. Don't let that fool you that I'm soft though," he finished with a soft chuckle. His joking air left him as a faint speck popped up on the horizon that was beginning to turn orange-red.

"Then there's people like Quarter," the man sighed out. "They see the whole military as an extension of the Academy and are appalled when it doesn't work that way. I feel kind of bad for her actually. The only world she's comfortable in is one where she has everything she's supposed to and that will never happen, hence the whole lashing out thing. She'll never really fit in, but she's too… 'Perfect'... to get rid of." By the time Yuzta finished is speech about Lieutenant Colonel Quarter, she was only a hundred feet out. When her vehicle stopped in front of us, we all pulled a salute. After she quickly waved it off, she posed a question.

"Which one of you is 'Blaze?'" she asked quickly, her eyes darting around. She was dusty and sweaty and looked like she was about to fall over from exhaustion, yet she still had a look in her eyes that could only be called, 'crazed.'

"I am, Ma'am," I replied before holding out the water I had picked up for her earlier. "Would you like some-?"

"Specialist Reeves, have this man put under military arrest!" the woman yelled in the most demanding voice I had heard from her yet. The only evidence the man who had been driving the vehicle had heard the order was the two raised eyebrows above his sunglasses. For a moment, he was locked into a stare with me before turning towards the woman who had given him an order and then at the Staff Sergeant. "Specialist?!" the woman demanded after a couple of seconds of hesitation.

"U-under what pretense, ma'am?" the frightened man stuttered out, his buddies in the vehicle unsure of where to look.

"DO I NEED ONE?!" she yelled out. I could tell this was going to only get worse so I decided to try and defuse the situation.

"It's okay, Specialist, I surrender myself to your custody." No sooner had I finished my sentence when three adamant and one drunken protest came from behind me as I stepped forward. Reeves seemed to be frozen for a moment before his head shifted slightly towards the woman who was bearing down on him. He immediately jumped out of the vehicle and walked towards me as I turned around for him. As I turned to present my hands behind my back for the Specialist, I saw the concerned gaze of not only my flight, but of Mattocks' as well.

"I really don't want to be doing this, sir," the man said to me in a concerned yet discrete tone as he took the water from my hands and put loosely done zip-tie cuffs around my wrists.

"It's okay, Reeves. This will all work its self out," I told the man, not only to comfort him but to make me feel better about the situation as well.

"Captain Irving," Kei began, trying to maintain a semblance of control that anyone who looked at her knew was fake and strained. "I think you ought to-"

"Captain Nagase," the Lieutenant Colonel snapped. "There will be no conversing with the prisoner. He's a loose cannon that must be secured," the woman said in a haughty voice.

"She's just concerned for her bo- GGAAHH!" Chopper yelled in his drunken stupor as Kei rather forcefully used her elbow to silence him by targeting a rather vulnerable spot.

"Staff Sergeant Black?" Lieutenant Colonel Quarter asked, ignoring the spectacle before her. The man was still stupefied looking at the sight of me being cuffed by his subordinate. "Black?!" the woman yelled again.

"Yes ma'am," he said as he shook off his absent-mindedness.

"Where is the most isolated part of this base? I can't have this man trying to start up a revolt and causing any more disorder than he has."

"Is that really necess-"

"Are you questioning my judgment?" the woman asked with enough venom to kill a whale.

"I'll lead you there," the man said as he gave me a sorrowful glance. As the Staff Sergeant took lead and Quarter took of the rear behind me and Reeves, Yuzta followed us back inside.

"Ma'am, I urge you to think this over again," Yuzta said to his flight lead.

"That sounded an awful lot like a suggestion, Captain Yuzta," the woman said coldly.

"That's 'cause it was, ma'am. I don't think it's such a good idea for you to be placing such a prominent person in our military under arrest without any kind of justification. It might-"

"Yuzta, if I wanted to hear your opinions, I would've asked for them. Now, get out of my hair before you join 'Blaze' here in quarantine." As soon as the demand was given, a pair of footsteps dropped away from our convoy and we continued on in silence. After another good minute and a half of walking, we came upon a solitary room at the end of a long hallway. I was lead inside as fluorescent lights flickered on in the room that was small enough to be broom closet. An aluminum chair was folded out and placed in the center of the room and I willingly sat down on the uncomfortable metal piece of furniture.

"Secure him to the chair then leave us," the Lieutenant Colonel said to the two solders that had escorted us here. When they weren't immediate in the command they were given, Quarter turned her head towards them and they quickly sprung into action with Reeves redoing the ties to the chair and Black opening the door for his subordinate as they left the room with only me and the woman inside.

"Let's make this quick," the woman began. "You've been an annoyingly efficient squadron leader. Before you reared your Usean pig-head, our squadron was the go-to squad for the tough missions. The missions that mattered. But it seems all you have to do is flaunt a little sad story and a smidgen of skill at the Capital Air Command before they pick new favorites. I'm tired of getting handed the shitty leftovers! After today, you'll be lucky if you get to touch a model of a plane!" I didn't know what it was. Maybe I was dehydrated. Maybe I had been around the vapors of the strong Yuktobanian vodka for too long. Maybe it was because she used smidgen in her rant, or maybe I just saw how crazy and desperate this woman must be to stoop so low. But I began to laugh. The look of violence that had been on Quarters face was replaced at first confusion, then repulsion. She haughtily left the room, but not before shutting off the lights and leaving me in darkness.

I lost track of time, I couldn't reach the watch on my hand even with the loose zip-ties and even if I could, I wasn't flexible enough to look at it if I could even get it to light up. I knew I feel asleep at least once due to the ache that emerged in my neck from lack of proper support. After a while, I saw a glow come from under the door and moments later I was basked in a flood of overwhelming light.

"Shit, Kid," I heard Chopper say as I blinked and winced at the bright light. "You look like-"

"Crap, I know. I feel like it too," I told him before he could finish with his profanity. "So what's going on in the world?" I asked.

"Ah, not much," Copper began casually as he came to walk behind me and clip the ties on my hands. "Robot overlord take over's and what not. It's not too bad once you get used to smashing the rocks." Despite the soreness in my back as I stood up, I managed to laugh a little with the man.

"So, did the Lieutenant Colonel change her mind or something?" I asked as I rubbed my wrists.

"Not exactly," Chopper said evasively.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She wasn't the only one who filed a report to CAC. I think everyone at this base sent a report to them with their version of events. Hell, I think some of the Yukes POWs even wrote some stuff. A transport landed about thirty minutes ago and a friggin' General came out. Like, General, General. They demanded that Quarter bit... lady... be detained and loaded on to his plane, you be released, and you join him promptly in the mess hall."

"Okay, I could tell the robot thing was a joke but I'm having trouble reading this one."

"No joke, Kid. Come on, the guy's waiting near the mess." Chopper put his arm around me and led me out of the small hole I had been in and towards the mess hall area. "So... about the uh, the slip up..." Chopper began uneasily.

"What slip up?" I asked, not one-hundred percent sure what he was talking about.

"With you and Kei," he said to jog my memory.

"Ah, that one," I responded slowly as we continued our relatively silent walk towards the mess.

"Look, it just came out. Mattock squadron is satisfied with a little story I spun up about it, so they're still in the dark about the whole thing-"

"Chopper, I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to. Kei was the one who wanted it to be secret."

"Shit," he said wincing his eyes shut and punching at the air. "I was worried you'd say that."

"It hasn't come up while I was locked away?" I asked him.

"Kei's been like an elusive panther since you were locked up," Chopper began with a dead serious tone and stare. "I don't know if you remember, but I almost slipped up another time in front of Quarter. In that 'almost' instance, I was elbowed in a rather... sensitive area. I'm terrified of what a full slip up is going to warrant me. It's scary, Kei will be there one second, just looking at me with this stare, and I turn my back to find something to defend myself and then she's gone. But that's nothing compared to what she was doing to Quarter. I swear, another hour and the Lieutenant Colonel would've had to check into a mental institute because of the paranoia Kei was causing her by... lurking. I partially think she was glad to get onto that transport. Though, I don't think she knows we'll be on it too."

"Just make sure you talk to Kei sooner than later. It's better to get it done and over with than let these kinds of things go on rampant." As we got closer, more and more people began to notice me and stare. When we got to the mess hall, I was facing the back of a man with silver hair lining the sides of his head.

"General Howell?" I asked. Upon my query, the man turned around and gave a small grin.

"Hello Blaze. You look like hammered-"

"Crap. Yeah, so I've been told," I said looking back at Chopper. Howell's small grin ebbed away into a slight frown.

"I'm sorry you went through that as long as you did. When the Lieutenant Colonel's report came in, it raised some eyebrows. When all the others started showing up, it dropped some mouths. When we found Yuktobanian reports in the mix, well, some people are still trying to figure out what to do with those. I personally want them framed." I smiled at the thought of dumbfounded politicians seeing Yuktobanian soldiers discrediting a Lieutenant Colonel in the Osean Air Force in favor of a Captain in the same service.

"So what happens now?" I asked the man as he continued to appraise me.

"Now?" he repeated. He walked towards me and placed his hand on my shoulder, patting it twice before grinning. "Now you are as good as the national symbol. CAC wants you and your squadron to do a fly over in November City to raise moral for the war effort. You guys just being there will raise support by amounts that even the Vice President can't do by himself." I looked at the man in disbelief. "Yeah," the man said with humor behind his voice. "Genette said you'd do that." The General took his hand from my shoulder and began to walk out of the room. "Be ready to leave here by 1300 today. We've got to get you back over to the mainland and fancy looking for that flyby." When the General had left the room and it was just me and Chopper, the man spoke up.

"Since when have you and that guy been buddies?" he asked jokingly using his thumb to point at the man leaving the room. I grinned at Choppers assessment. While the General was friendly to me, I was pretty sure it was just because I had met him before. And as he had said, saved his bacon. Chopper started to just shake his head at my silence and spoke up again. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm going to see if I can't find Nagase. I'm starting to get that paranoid feeling that she causes when she's near me." After Chopper left the room, I stood alone and unmoving for a several moments, unsure what had just happened or how it had come to be. This wasn't normal. This wasn't normal by any measure of the word. Even if the General had known us from before, there was no reason for my flight to be receiving the kind of treatment we were. How were we becoming such a pivotal and major part in this war that none of us even wanted?

"Caden?" a soft voice came from behind me. I turned to come face to face with the woman who had been described as a stealthy ninja for the last couple of days. The punch she delivered to my gut wasn't so stealthy however, and definitely not as soft as the occasional knock on the arm I was getting used to.

"Ohhww!" I wheezed out as I knelt over to half protect myself and half recover from the strong blow.

"Even on the ground you're starting to take these stupid, unnecessary risks!" Kei yelled at me, the softness that had been in her voice gone.

"Missed you too, honey," I wheezed as I got on my hands and knees and tried to take shallow breaths that wouldn't hurt as much as the deep ones I had been trying to take.

"That's not fair!" she shouted at me as I coughed a little. "That psycho woman had me thinking the worse the last couple of days! I thought she had been cutting off fingers and… stuff!"

"Other than that wicked punch you just delivered," I said as I slowly regained my voice, "I'm fine." Kei knelt down next to me and looked into my eyes.

"Caden, you keep doing all these stupid and needless things. Why didn't you fight against what that woman was doing to you? Everyone would've supported you."

"All arguing with that woman would've brought would be the rest of you guy's joining me in solitary confinement. The way it worked out, well, it worked out."

"That can't cut it anymore," Kei said in distress. "I don't want to lose you, and every time you go and do these stunts, it's like I'm not even a thought," she finished as she looked down at the ground between us.

"Kei," I began, waiting for her to look back up at me. "You're the first thought. What do you think would've happened had I fought against that arrest and requested your help? I thought that you guys would be put in some remote, dark place as well. I didn't want that for you."

"Sorry," she muttered as she buried her head in my flight suit. "It's just- Augh!" she said as she pulled away. "You smell terrible!"

"Thanks," I said flatly as I got back up and helped her stand as well. I glanced at my watch to see it was 1000. "We need to be ready to leave in a couple of hours," I told her as she looked over me like a mother does to her child on the first day of school.

"Yeah, the rest of the flight knows already and is ready to leave right now."

"Looks like we'll be having that date in November City," I told her as I reached out to stop her hands from trying to tidy up my appearance. "Hope you know the best place to eat." Kei's cheeks flashed a light pink as I caught her eye.

"You should go... do something," she said brokenly as she stepped away. "Take a shower or... something. With your flight suit. You're both... dirty." She left quite suddenly after that, leaving me alone again in the room. I cautiously put my nose towards one of my arm pits and took an exploratory whiff before pulling back fast enough to hurt my neck.

"Yup," I said to myself. "Definitely a good idea." I eventually found a head with the facilities I needed and rinsed myself down with a much needed shower. It didn't even bother me that the water was freezing. As I contemplated the best way to dry out, Grimm called from the other side of the door.

"Captain Irving?"

"Grimm? Is that you?" I replied.

"Oh, uh, yes sir. When you get done in there, there is food ready in the mess hall so we can eat before leaving."

"Thanks for the info, Grimm." I glanced back at my wet clothes that weren't drying fast enough until I came up with an idea that seemed like it would work. I put the clothing on while it was still wet and went outside into the desert heat. Within a couple of minutes, my flight suit could only be called moist at best. I walked into the mess hall half expecting it to be empty like it had been only a few minutes ago, but now found it almost past its maximum capacity. However, the hustle and bustle almost immediately stopped as soon as I walked in, with every eye seeming to fall on me shortly after the silence settled. I had no idea what was going on or even why it was happening. All the people in the room created a hole to the food line and after a second, a brave private prompted me along. Slowly, I walked though the strange silence and got my food served to me, sound coming back to the room only after I had sat down in secluded corner.

"Hey, Captain," Grimm said as he joined me.

"What the heck was that about?" I asked him.

"What was what about?"

"The whole, 'let's be quiet and awkward as hell when Blaze shows up,'?"

"Oh, yeah. That."

"What's up with it?" I asked again.

"Well," Grimm began, glancing over his shoulder like someone wouldn't want me to know what he was about to tell. "They heard about what you did and how you handled yourself. Apparently, we're already something of a big deal in the military. When everyone here heard about how you surrendered yourself to the Lieutenant Colonel so you didn't get people in trouble, even though she had no justification..."

"Yeah?" I asked not sure what Grimm was trying to get at.

"It's like the General said, Kid," Chopper said as he joined us. "You, with maybe a little help from Genette's newspaper article, have made us a friggin' national symbol. Everyone in our military and the Yukes have heard of the Four Wings of Sand Island. It's been statistically proven that wherever we fly, the rate of kick-assery goes up by, like, 648 percent." I looked at Chopper with an un-amused scowl, Grimm backing me up with his own face of disapproval. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that you are pretty much a national treasure now. A national treasure that makes people fight harder and win more."

"This was the last thing I wanted," I said as I returned to the food that was being served. Quality of food defiantly was proportional to how close you were to Osea.

"What do you mean?" Grimm asked.

"I don't want to be known for making this war even bloodier than it already is!" I snapped. "I think this war is a waste of resources and lives! We don't even know why it started! No one is even TRYING to know why it started!" I shouted at no one in particular. "I'm trying to end this war, not perpetuate it! But it feels like we're being used, Grimm! It feels like we're being used to bread hate! I'M SICK OF IT!" The mess hall had gotten utterly silent again and both Grimm and Chopper were wide eyed and red faced. Then, out of nowhere,

"Amen to that." A single cup was raised from the sea of seated people. After a half second, another was raised, followed by another and another. Soon, the entire hall had raised their cups. Empowered by some force I couldn't have identified even with a thousand years of analysis, I picked up my own cup.

"To ending this pointless war." I drank from my glass and sat back down, the rest of the room mirroring the action and returning to their own business. I sighed heavily. "I'm sorry for yelling," I began looking back up at Grimm over my mostly uneaten food. "But this war is starting to become less clear each time we make what seems to be an advance." I sighed again and finished my thoughts. "I think I'm going to go and board the plane early. I'm sorry." I got up and returned my food and walked outside to enter the transport we would be taking to November City. My outburst had drained me, and as soon as I had taken my seat near the back of the large loading section of the transport, I fell asleep.


	23. -Forgetful Thunderhead, Regretful Blaze-

**Forgetful Thunderhead, Regretful Blaze**

There are a few ways that I like to be woken up. There are many more that I don't like. Hitting my head against an aluminum beam is one of the ones in the latter category.

"Ahgh!" I shouted, suddenly waking up from my sleeping.

"Ooohh, that one looked like it hurt," Chopper said from across from me. I glanced around the interior of the plane and saw that besides my flight and a couple of pallets of supplies, we were the only ones in the bay of the transport.

"Where's Quarter?" I asked. "I thought she was supposed to be on this flight."

"When they brought her on board," Kei began looking concernedly at my head, "she started to claw and spit at you. After they sedated her, they strapped her in one of the chairs in the cockpit." Kei's face briefly showed the slightest of hint of satisfaction. "They told me that she will be seeing a psychiatrist instead of the cockpit of a plane from now on."

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"We're just beginning to land right now, hence the jostling around," Kei responded. "Sorry about your head."

"Why don't you kiss it and make it better?" Copper suggested with one of the largest grins I had ever seen. Grimm, on the other hand, buried his head in his hands as the tips of his ears turned bright red.

"About that," I said, looking over at Kei who had roughly the same reaction as Grimm. "Can you guys just keep quiet about it for now?"

"You've already got my word Captain," Grimm said looking up from his hands, although his face was still the color of a tomato.

"Come on, Kid. You know I wouldn't go blabbing off about it." Kei whipped her head at him so quickly there should've been a sonic boom. "On purpose," Chopper added. "I just think it's-" Copper halted his stream of thought as Kei gave him one of the most intense stares I had ever seen. "Wonderful," he finished.

"Teach me how to do that," I whispered to Kei who immediately broke her bearing with a shy smile.

"You kids are so-" Chopper stopped again. "Wonderful."

"I love you," I said as Kei continued to stare down Chopper. She once again broke her bearing and smiled at me with a red face.

"At least wait till we land. I don't want to be forced to watch you two make lovey-dovey faces at each other while I'm strapped into a seat. It's like when Ray makes me watch a rom-com with her." Chopper's face suddenly lit up. "Kid! You've got to meet my family again! The whole lot! Hell, we can stay at my place while we're all here!"

"What are you talking about, Chopper?" I asked the man who could barely be held by the restraints in his seat.

"I thought I told you! I used to live in November City before I joined up with the Air Force. It's where I was first stationed. Oh, this is great!" Grimm was giving Chopper a concerned look and was leaning as far away from the ecstatic man as possible. "Course, you're gonna have to dye your hair again for Vicki..." There was a sudden lurching motion as the aircraft made contact with the ground. After a few seconds of being pushed around, we came to halt and were allowed to remove our harnesses.

"Do you think they'll allow it? Us staying with you?" I asked as I stood up and popped my back, grateful for the long trip to be over.

"I don't see why they wouldn't," Chopper said looking thoughtfully up into his brain to see if there were any counter-arguments to be had. "Besides, it would save them the money of having to find us a place to stay."

"Well, let's make sure we clear it first. I don't want to blow all this good luck we've had just to have a sleep over with you."

"It would totally be worth it," Chopper said as he walked off the plane. It felt weird not carrying any bags with me. We had been moved here directly from Yuktobania and didn't have any other clothes or necessities on us. We had been told we would be given a small clothing allowance to buy the necessities while we were here. As I walked towards the waiting vehicle out on the tarmac, I noticed a small group of reporters off in the distance.

"Who're they?" I asked the driver of the bus we boarded, pointing at the gaggle of photographers.

"News people," the man said casually. "They know that Sand Island Squadron is coming in today, they just don't know when. Hell, no one knows when they're actually gonna' get here. But I heard it going around that they're coming in on a new stealthy transport. It's gonna be sick when that thing comes in." I looked back at the rest of my flight who all seemed to have a different reaction. Grimm didn't seem to be paying attention, he had started looking at the news reporters when I had pointed them out and got lost in the sea of people. Kei had a surprised look on her face like she couldn't believe so many people had been duped. Chopper was still grinning like a fox in a chicken coop, lost in his daydreams.

"Huh," I said as I took my seat near the front of the bus. The man began to pull away and drive us through the base. We stopped after about a ten minute drive and began to get off the bus.

"So who are you guys, anyways," the man asked as I left the bus last.

"Well, the Yuktobanian's like to call us the Razgriz," I said as I got off. Chopper finally let his grin manifest into manic laughter as we walked off towards a car that had been requisitioned for us.

"So who do we talk to so that this thing at my place can work?" Chopper asked as we reached the car, suppressing his laughter once again to properly communicate.

"I don't know," I responded. "The base commander or something?"

"Well, let's go to that front building and see if we can't get a hold of him," Chopper said plainly as he pointed at an office close by. I followed him as Kei and Grimm waited by the car, starting up a conversation of their own. Almost as soon as we entered the building we were greeted by a woman at the front desk who was in her ABU uniform.

"Good afternoon, Gentlemen. How may I help you?"

"We'd like to get a hold of the base commander real fast and talk about our living accommodations," Chopper said as he walked closer to the counter. I hung back, not needing to do much of anything other than make sure Chopper didn't do something crazy. But the look that the woman was giving me was making me think I'd already failed that job.

"Sir, you can't just up and call the Base Commander," the woman said seriously.

"Why not?" Chopper asked like a child who didn't understand why he couldn't have a cookie.

"Well... he's got... work... and things..." the woman said unconvincingly.

"We're trying to save you guys some money," Chopper said plainly to the woman whose demeanor suddenly changed.

"Hold on a moment," the woman said as she picked up a phone and pushed a single button. Chopper turned back towards me with a grin on his face. I just returned the gesture as the woman got off the phone to quickly converse with us. "Who did you say you were, again?"

"Sand Island squadron, I'm Chopper."

"Blaze," I said waving my hand at the woman who had turned white as a sheet. After regaining some of her composure, she got back on the phone and only muttered a few more words before she talked with us again.

"He would like to know how you're going to save money," she said quietly.

"We've made different housing arrangements. You can cancel whatever ones were made before," Chopper told the woman. She simply nodded and got back on the phone and relayed the information. After a few nods and the occasional 'yes sir,' she hung up the phone.

"If I could just get you to write the address of the new location, you can be on your way," the woman said as she slid a pen and paper towards Chopper.

"Sweet," he said picking up the implements he had been handed and scribbling down his address. "Thanks for helping us out," Chopper said over his shoulder as he walked towards the door with me.

"You're welcome, sir. Good afternoon."

"That was easier than I thought it was going to be," I confided to Chopper as we walked towards the car we would be using.

"I heard the guy on the other end of that line. When she told them who we were, they were quiet for a while. I think even they were a little intimidated by our reputation," Chopper said with a grin. I just shook my head as we continued over to the car that Kei and Grimm were still waiting at.

"How'd it go?" Grimm asked as we approached.

"Well, Kid had to rough up the security people a little bit, but once the one guy lost his tooth, they were a little more understanding," Chopper said as he climbed into the driver's seat. Grimm and Kei just stood there staring at me as if what Chopper said was true.

"Did you-" Kei began before I cut her off.

"He's joking. Seriously? You thought-"

"Just checking," Kei said as she raised her hands in surrender and got into the car followed swiftly by Grimm. I took the passenger seat next to Chopper and once all the doors were closed, he started off down the road.

"So," Grimm began as he was looking out the window of the vehicle. "Your place will be able to fit us all, right?"

"If it doesn't," Chopper said without taking his focus off the road, "Then I'll give you a twenty." Grimm looked at chopper with a confounded face.

"Chopper," Kei began a similar expression crossing her own features, "If you're unable to house Grimm properly, what is he supposed to do with a twenty? That's hardly enough for a single night in a cheap motel."

"There's plenty of room!" Chopper said still not taking his eyes off the road. I was starting to have doubts about how well this whole plan had been thought up. I mean, it had only been an hour since the idea had even formed and already we were past the point of no return. But any doubts I had were suddenly swept away when Chopper turned onto a road with what could only be described as mansions lining its sides. As we continued down the road, the houses only got larger. Then we turned up a road that had a 'Private Drive' sign on it.

"So," Chopper began, breaking the uneasy silence that had enveloped the car. "I guess you guys kinda' want to know about the big houses." Chopper said brokenly.

"That's a valid guess," Grimm said, pulling himself away from gawking out the window. The road we were on was lined by manicured trees blocking the view of whatever grand house was waiting us at the top of the small hill we were driving up.

"The Davenport is an old name in Osean history. Not prominent, but old just the same. The house we'll be staying at, well, it's been in the family for over ten generations." The view suddenly opened up as the trees gave way to a circular court that belonged to the gargantuan house it was in front of. All except Chopper just gawked at the size and splendor of the old house. Chopper cleared his throat nervously. "I'm going to get out of the car now. Feel free to join me at the front door when you're ready. My family still doesn't know I'm coming, let alone bringing visitors." He then turned his gaze to me and his expression went from one of nervousness to some form of realization. "OH! We still got to go dye your hair!"

"Chopper," I began, breaking out of my partial stare at his house. "Is it really necess-"

"Kei, Grimm, you guys come with me to the door," Chopper said ignoring my protest. "I'll quick introduce you to the family and leave you here while I go to get Blaze's hair done." Chopper then turned to me. "You, duck your head while we are at the door. Can't have anyone see you before you're ready." Before I could put another word in, Chopper was opening his door and stepping out. I turned to face Kei and Grimm for help but they were already getting out of the car as well. I watched helplessly as the three walked up to the door. Just as Chopper was about to knock, he looked back at me in the car, motioning with his hand for me to duck. I just looked at him but he became more adamant with his gestures until Kei turned around with a grin on her face and mirrored the motion. Resigning to my fate, I ducked under the dash board of the car and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, after over thirty minutes of waiting, Chopper opened the driver's door again.

"Sorry about that, the family was really curious and I had to stick around for a cup of lemonade."

"Oh, well, in that case, don't worry about it," I said sarcastically as I got up from my spot. My back was already sore from the weird position I had been in. "I like waiting around while cool stuff is happening," I finished as I put my seatbelt back on. I glanced over at Chopper who had a sheepish face as he started the car. As he shook it off, he spoke up again.

"Let's go get you some red hair!"

The drive around town was an interesting one to say the least. Both Chopper and I were in flight suits that we hadn't changed out of in three days looking for a hair salon that would dye my hair red. Needless to say, when we finally did find a hair salon, we raised a few eyebrows when we walked in and a couple more when Chopper told them what was to be done to my hair. Once the reason for the drastic change was mentioned though, I became the most attractive man in the universe to all the hair stylists, making Chopper laugh hysterically.

"It's so sweet you would do this for a little girl," the one who was preparing my hair began.

"Yeah," I said flatly. "She loved it last time."

"OH MY GOD!" she squealed. "You've done it before too?!" I simply nodded my head in the affirmative. "You're such a sweetheart!" she gushed as she turned her head towards the front counter, me following her gaze to see what was about to happen. As I looked at the counter, I could see all the women who weren't busy doing another customers hair were watching me with the most attentive stare until they realized where I was looking and rushed to do something to look normal. "Gina!" my stylist called out. One of the women who had been staring and was now hap-hazardously looking through a hair catalog looked up as if she had been reading it the whole time.

"Hum?" the woman said, too flustered to speak.

"This angel has done this before for that little girl," my stylist said as she tousled my hair playfully. I looked over at Chopper who had one of his stupid grins on again, trying with what was probably every fiber of his being not to laugh.

By the time I got out of the establishment with bright red hair, I felt like I needed a couple of punches from Kei to level out the amount of complements that had been sent my way. It made me thankful that she was much more... reserved than most women.

"Man," Chopper said as he got into the car. "I need to start coming here for my haircuts." I just gave him a sideways glare as he started up the car. "Right. Thanks again for doing this for Vicki. I know she loves it."

"Yeah, yeah." I said as we pulled out of the parking lot. "I just got done hearing that from five different women, I don't need to hear it from you too." Once we were back at the estate, I got out of the car, glad to be able to stretch out my legs after what seemed to be a day of sitting around.

"Looks like a storms coming in," Chopper said looking up in the sky and to the west. I glanced up as well and saw the dark gray clouds that often came before a good lightning storm. I got excited.

"Good," I said, causing Chopper to glance at me. "Let it come, I would like a nice show tonight." It was one of my favorite things to do, sit and watch lightning. There had hardly been anything that could be described as 'bad weather' out at Sand Island and I was beginning to miss the strong stuff. Chopper chuckled a bit, pulling me from remembering lightning shows from the past.

"We'll see how you feel about that later tonight," he said as he began to walk towards the front door. I glanced back up at the sky again before rushing to meet him at the door as he knocked.

"What do you mean?" I asked. But before he could even answer, the door opened up and a young girl flew at Choppers legs.

"Dad!" Vicki yelled as she hugged Chopper's legs, hanging three inches above the ground.

"Hey sweetheart," Chopper said as he crouched down to pick up his kid. As he picked her up, he lofted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and began to tickle the child, eliciting screams that Chopper seemed to have built an immunity to that I hadn't developed yet.

"ALVIN," came a woman's voice from inside that reached Choppers hardened ears and made him stop. "Some people aren't as selectively deaf as you," the woman I recognized as Raenay finished as she walked into the foyer. Chopper sent a quick look at me.

"Sorry," he said putting down Vicki who turned her attention to me as well.

"Hey, uncle Blaze," she said before running off. I raised my eyebrow first at Chopper who was busy closing the door behind us and then turned my questioning gaze towards Raenay.

"She started calling you that after that day at the park," she explained. "Kei's apparently her aunt as well," Raenay said with a smile. I blushed a little at the implications, but to Raenay, my light blushing may as well have been a billboard. "I KNEW IT!" she shouted, pumping her fist in the air. Any color my face had before was suddenly gone as I realized what had just happened.

"Wait, uh-" I began, but before I could even get another breath in Raenay was interjecting.

"I knew you weren't clumsy! That whole thing with the split water was too... perfect! Alvin told you what my third question was, didn't he!" she said as she stared at me and then Chopper. "Didn't he!" she yelled at him.

"RAENAY," came an older sounding voice from a floor above the one we were currently on. After a brief pause a woman who was maybe in her mid fifties appeared at the top of the stairs. "Some people aren't as used to your yelling as you two are." The woman's hard expression softened immensely as her gaze fell to me. "And you must be this Caden fellow I've been hearing all about." She began to walk down the steps as Chopper came to meet her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey mom," he said as he gave her a big hug, towering over her by a good six inches.

"Hey yourself," she said as she pulled out from his hug and patted his cheek. She then turned towards me and walked over to introduce herself. "I'm Alvin's mother, Victoria, but you can call me Mrs. Davenport if you'd like," she said in a way that made her feel like a grandmother. She suddenly turned around and took a deep breath before yelling up the stairs. "David, get down here! Alvin's boss is here!"

"Tame your cat's woman!" another voice said. A moment later, a man about the same age as Choppers mom came from the same part of the house. "If you'd let me do things my own pace," the man said as he descended the stairs, "maybe my heart problems would go away."

"And maybe if you followed the doctor's advice and ate butter like a normal person, they'd go away too," the elderly woman shot back as he joined her side.

"Touché," the man said as he reached out his hand. "Nice to meet you son. Name's David, as you've already heard," the man finished as he lightly elbowed his wife who shot him an expression of mock outrage.

"Pleasure to meet you both," I said with mirth, feeling welcome by the couples antics that reminded me slightly of my own with Kei.

"Nice hair," the man said, squinting at my head.

"That's for Vicki's benefit," Chopper said quickly. "You know, with the stories I've told her."

"You made your boss dye his hair so you wouldn't look like a liar to your daughter?" the man asked disbelievingly, turning his gaze to Chopper.

"Well, when you put it like that," Chopper began before being interrupted again.

"Son," David said looking back at me, "You stay here a moment. I'm going to go order you one of those 'World's Best Boss' cups on the inter-web."

"Glad someone thinks I'm good at my job," I mumbled, briefly thinking about what Perrault would be like when we got back.

"What was that dear," Mrs. Davenport said bringing back from my thoughts.

"Nothing," I responded.

"Boy's probably hungry," Mr. Davenport said clapping his hands together. "Why don't we get some dinner after you change out of those flight suits. I'm sure Alvin's got some clothes he can lend you until tomorrow."

"Good idea," Raenay said rejoining the conversation. "Dinner will give us some time to..." She stared at me until I returned her gaze. "Talk."

"Okay..." Victoria said, looking between the two of us with concern. "You two play nice now. I don't like it when Randell, the house cleaner, complains about blood."

"Hey Caden-" Kei began as she walked into the greeting hall wearing clothes I assumed Raenay lent her. She stopped herself mid greeting and just stared at my hair. "Wow. That's bright. Going to have to get used to that again." Raenay just kept smiling slyly between the two of us. Kei almost immediately picked up on it as everyone began to move towards the kitchen. "What was that about," she whispered in my ear, pointing a thumb at Raenay.

"She, uh, kind of figured it out." I said looking at the floor knowing what was coming next. After the blow had landed, Kei's whisper became strained.

"You told her?!"

"Not directly," I said defensively. "She made me blush about something and figured it out from there."

"Well, it was going to come out some time," she said sighing. "Go get changed," she added a moment later. "You still smell." After I had changed into some clothes Chopper lent me, I made my way to the dining area that was being populated with delicious looking food. About halfway through the meal, conversation began to take priority over eating.

"Boom, boom, boom, and then after like a half second one final boom goes off. I don't know about Grimm, but from my perspective, it was better than any film director could've come up with."

"It was pretty cool from where I was too, Lieutenant Davenport," Grimm said. "Captain Irving was all over those four planes in less than ten seconds. I was happy to just sit back and be amazed in that moment." I continued eating my meal, hoping that if I didn't show interest in my exploits over Yuktobania, I wouldn't have to elaborate on them. Of course, Raenay made sure that wasn't going to happen. I had many questions to answer in her eyes for the one I had evaded.

"What was that like, Caden?" Raenay asked as innocently as possible, though I knew she just wanted me to be answering questions until I filled my quota. I sighed and put down my fork as I finished chewing my roast beef.

"Instinctual," I replied after I swallowed. Raenay gave me a stink eye that told me she wanted more, though, so I continued. "Two of those planes were an accident," I told them. "The first one got in the way of the second and the third one went through a debris field of the second. I was just trying to get past the planes so it all felt... instinctual."

"What about Ms. Nagase here?" Choppers dad asked. "I haven't heard what you were doing all this time this young man was blowin' up planes."

"I was on the ground... past the planes," Kei told him rather silently. Choppers father looked confused so she began anew. "I had been shot down in the last operation by flying too low and taking a missile. I had been in enemy territory for that night and the next day, the rest of the squadron came back for me." Her melancholy mood suddenly shifted as she recounted another memory. "When those four planes were shot down, the forest was silent for a good couple of seconds. Completely silent. The enemy knew who it was, and was frozen with fear." She then looked over at me. "I knew who it was, and was filled with hope." After a moment of silence came over the table, Kei seemed to realize who she was staring at, me, and where she was doing it, in public. After moving her gaze to a more neutral area, her plate, she spoke again. "Apparently it's a common thing for anyone we're flying over," she finished, trying to play off her feelings as trivial to the rest of the table.

"Right," Raenay slowly drawled, making the silence over the table even more awkward.

"Can I have more juice mommy," Vicki asked, breaking the long pause in conversation.

"Sure thing," Chopper said getting up faster than I thought was humanly possible.

"Thanks 'mommy'," Raenay called teasingly to her husband. David turned to Grimm and decided to start a new conversation.

"You get any sports over on Sand Island?" he asked Grimm. After a puzzled look, he continued. "We've got our own Football team here in November City! Osean Football, mind you, not the stuff you play with your feet. Their called the Warriors! Man they're a good team. Vice Presidents going to be presenting in their stadium, in fact." I began to tune out. Not only was I not a sports guy, but I greatly preferred 'normal' football over the Osean variant. The rest of meal time chatter saw very little contribution from either Kei or I and was over about twenty minutes later.

After I had excused myself, I found a covered patio at the back of the house. It was very dark out, the otherwise bright moon being covered by stormy clouds that were just about ready to drop their stores of water. The city off in the distance put off a golden hue that touched the clouds looming above it. This was going to be a show. Almost as if on cue, I saw the first blue-white streak in the clouds. After three seconds, the boom reached the house and reverberated my being. But before it was over, there was a shriek from inside. I spun around and re-entered the dwelling to try and find the source of the terrified scream. When I got back inside, I saw Kei holding Vicki with a look on her face that told me she was just as surprised as I was at what she was doing. After I gave her my puzzling stare, she spoke up.

"One moment we're talking, the next, she just..." Kei gestured at herself to show what she meant. I suddenly heard some chuckling from a doorway to our right.

"Vicki has some fear of thunderstorms," Victoria said as she walked out of the doorway. I looked back at the little girl and the fear in her eyes. How could she be scared of something so beautiful? I suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, Vicki?" I asked her as I got down on one knee right next to her. She slowly dug her face out of Kei's leg and looked over at me, but left enough of herself embedded in Kei to pull back in if needed. "What would you say if I told you I know the guy who controls the thunder?"

"Who?" she asked in a scared voice.

"Well," I began looking up at Kei who had a smile on her face but remained silent in holding Vicki. "We all know him as Thunderhead," I began. One of Kei's hands flew up to her mouth as she winced her eyes shut to keep herself from laughing. Vicki seemed totally lost.

"His name is Thunderhead?" I looked back down at her with the most sincere eyes I could manage, ignoring Kei who was trying to stifle her laughter.

"Yes," I replied. "He flies with me, Edge, Archer... even your dad!" Vicki was starting to pull away from Kei more but still left one of her hands on her pant leg.

"Why is he so loud and scary?" she asked, eyes furrowed in question.

"Well..." I began, trying to buy some time and think of an explanation I could use. But I was drawing a blank. Luckily, Kei saw my issue and decided to help me out.

"Sometimes Thunderhead forgets things," she said, captivating Vicki's attention again. "And when he forgets things, he has to..."

"Get the things he forgot from the clouds," I added, causing the young child's head to switch back to me. "And he does it so fast that-"

"He leaves a trail of light and makes a loud sound." Kei finished, bringing the gaze of the child back to her. After Kei and I exchanged a quick glance filled with stupid smiles, we looked back at Vicki with hopeful faces.

"How about we show you," I suggested to the kid who looked at me with worry at the prospect of looking at what she feared most. "It'll be alright," I added. "Edge and I will be with you the whole time," I finished.

"You will," Vicki asked looking back up at Kei who was nodding her head in the affirmative. "Okay..." she said, switching her grasp of Kei pant leg to her hand. All three of us began to head towards the patio I had been on when Victoria stopped me, effectively halting the group as Vicki wouldn't leave without us both.

"My son said you cared," she began looking at me. She then switched her gaze to Kei and Vicki before looking back at me. "I see now why he said that." She patted me on the shoulder and walked back through the doorway through which she came. I stood there for a moment before I felt a tug on the lower part of my leg. I broke out of my position and rejoined the group. There was now the sound of heavy rain pattering on the awning of the covered patio and the air was moist and cool. I reveled in the experience, glad to have some variation in weather that I had been deprived of at Sand Island. I brought myself back to the world though, I had a mission to complete with Vicki. We found some chairs and sat in them, Vicki choosing to sit in my lap for the show.

We sat around for a little bit and I was beginning to think that the one streak of lighting was all that was going to happen when another one suddenly flashed and touched down about ten miles out.

"Get ready," I told Vicki before the boom reached us. When the thunderous wave finally came, Vicki already had her hands clamped over her ears, but her frightened shirk didn't accompany the thunder. As the rumbling died out and the only sound was the patter of rain again, I put my hands to the small child's and pulled them away from her ears gently. "It's okay," I told her as she looked back at me. "As long as you don't get in his way, Thunderhead won't hurt you." Vicki looked back over the city.

"He goes so fast," she said. "I like the way he sees," she said incorrectly, making me look over at Kei who was holding back another chuckle. "But he is so loud," the child finished.

"Well," I told her as she continued to stare out over the city. "Thunderhead tries to be nice and let you know when he's going to be loud with the light he makes," I told her. "It's like a warning."

"Oh," The child said simply. "So when I see the bright light, he's going to be loud?"

"Yup," Kei said, joining back in the conversation. "All you need to do is watch." We sat in silence a bit longer, multiple flashes coming and going and Vicki being fine the entire time. I don't know when it happened but she eventually fell asleep. "She looks like she had a day," Kei said looking at the bundle in my lap.

"Yeah," I said looking at the small child who was sleeping soundlessly. This moment was beautiful. The sky was lighting up with brilliant flashes every couple of seconds, Kei was sending me these looks and I was content with the world. Suddenly, a question came to my mind. It had been burning ever since the night Kei had been shot down but was now just coming back to me. "What does 'mesuinu' mean?"

"What?" Kei asked, not prepared at all for my question from left field. "Where did you hear-" suddenly, her mood shifted from one of content to a much more dark and foreboding tone. "You didn't." Crap.


	24. -Whitney and Caden's Corner-

**Whitney and Caden's Corner**

"Please tell me you didn't," Kei repeated. Even though it was dark out I could tell her face was as cold as stone. I swallowed hard.

"I had thought that since you had shown me it before-" I stopped as Kei got up from her seat.

"You're lucky you're holding a child right now," she said as she left me alone with Vicki in my lap. A pit formed in my stomach that reached to the other side of the planet. Every part of me was screaming to go after her but I couldn't move with the child in my lap. I mentally cursed myself to pieces. Why did I have to ask that question? To her? There's the Internet that could've told me. I felt so stuck now. It was a few more minutes before I heard footsteps coming to the patio's entryway. My hopes rose that it would be Kei, but instead, Raenay came through the opening.

"There she is," the woman spoke softly. "I was starting to worry. She usually comes and jumps into bed with Alvin and I when there's a storm." After a split second of thought, she corrected herself. "Well, usually, it's just me..." I wanted to be interested in the conversation Raenay was trying to have with me, but my mind just wasn't up to the hurdle. It was still reeling from what had happened a couple of seconds ago. Seeming to catch on, she took the seat Kei had been in moments ago. "Does your bout of silence have anything to do with Nagase storming off to a couch?" I simply nodded my head, my gaze still fixed on the lighting show going on over the city. I was surprised when Raenay didn't ask any questions.

"You're not as prying as Chop- your husband," I said as I faced her after a full minute of silence.

"You call him what you want," Raenay said turning to face me with a slight smile. "Chopper is better than some of the names I've heard other people call him," She continued with amusement in her voice at memories she was recalling.

"I did something that I shouldn't have," I confessed to the woman as she was losing herself in memories. She immediately came out of it and gave me a concerned look.

"How bad?" she asked.

"I don't know to be honest," I began. "Pretty bad, probably," I finished as I looked back out at the lightning. Raenay turned her gaze to the skyline as well, taking a deep breath and letting it go.

"She'll get over it," Raenay said confidently.

"How can you-"

"'Cause I'm a woman," she interrupted looking dead into my eyes with seriousness. Her expression softened quickly as she added, "And, from what I've seen so far, you're a great guy. You've got redeeming qualities up the wazoo and she'll see that soon enough. Just make sure you apologize before she comes to that conclusion. It'll make her feel more justified and maybe even speed the process up." She looked back down at her child who was sleeping in my lap. "How'd you get her to sleep? Is there some kind of hold you need to teach me that makes people faint? 'Cause if there is, you need to show me it."

"I didn't use a sleeper hold on your daughter," I told the woman flatly. "Kei and I just... rationalized the thunder and lightning with a... story."

"Must've been a good one," Raenay said still studying her child. "She's out cold."

"Speaking of sleeping," I began, feeling tiredness beginning to invade my waking moments. "What are the official arrangements?"

"Well there's plenty of guest rooms in this place," Raenay said using her thumb to point at the dwelling behind us. "I just figured we'd give you each a room while you're here."

"Sounds good to me," I told her looking down at the child in my lap who didn't look like they were ready to wake up any time soon.

"I'll go ahead and take her to her room," Raenay said getting up. "You need some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day if what you told me tonight is any indication." She gently and expertly took Vicki from my lap as if she had done it thousands of times before. "Good night," She called over her shoulder as she went back inside.

"Goodnight," I muttered to no one. I looked out at the lighting that was slowly decreasing in frequency. It seemed 'Thunderhead' was getting to be as tired as me. I got up and as I did so, realized that, while I knew I would be sleeping in a guest room, I had no idea which room that would be or where said rooms were. I went off searching to see if I could relocate Raenay for assistance when I ran into Chopper.

"Kid, there you are," Chopper said as he looked around. "You haven't seen Raenay around, have you? Or Vicki for that matter?"

"Yeah, I have, actually," I told him as he looked down at me. "I'll give you what I have if you can point me towards a vacant bed."

"Deal," Chopper said offering his hand for authenticity.

"Raenay was carrying Vicki off to her room, over that way," I said turning and indicating the direction the pair had gone.

"That's not towards Vicki's room..." Chopper mumbled.

"Well it's where they went," I told him as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, you can sleep in the spare room at the end of this hallway on the right. There's a guest bathroom right across the hall from it." Chopper began walking off in the direction of where I had indicated, but not before wishing me a good night and me returning the sentiment. I found the room easily enough and was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

**.oOo.**

Some people say that pain is all in the head. All you need to do to overcome it is apparently repeat the mantra, mind over matter over and over until you either pass out from blood loss or someone comes along and helps you out. But what if that pain doesn't have a physical cause?

Not many people can say they've lost their parents. Hardly anyone can say they've lost them twice. That kind of pain, that's the stuff that debilitates a person, makes them no fun to be around. So when someone does stick around, stays with you and gives you support, you know you've found a true ally in this world.

The day I found out about the burglary that killed my parents, I was in disbelief. That was what made it so easy for everyone to give their support. Professors, fellow cadets, distant acquaintances. The following week, that support began to trickle away. It's amazing how fast people expect you to move on. But through that whole time, there was one person who became an anchor to reality.

"Take all the time you need, Caden." Whitney and I were just sitting in the library, in the spot that we had made ours in the four years we had been at college. The spot where we saved our grades freshman year. The spot where I had given my support for Whitney back when Rick didn't work out in sophomore year. The spot where we had our book group of two last year. The spot where Whitney was helping me out now.

"They'd better name this place 'Caden and Whitney's Corner' once we graduate," I said in a desperate attempt to be upbeat. Whitney gave me a courtesy smile that was laced concern.

"Come on now," she said looking around at our area. "Let's be realistic. They would definitely call it 'Whitney and Caden's Corner.' Has a better acronym."

"Whatever," I replied, my smile growing marginally. We sat in a comfortable silence a while longer.

"How's all your military stuff going?" Whitney asked after a while.

"Fine," I replied, looking out the window that overlooked the campus plaza that had a large steel eagle monument.

"Caden," my friend called out in a somewhat threatening tone. "What's the rule?"

"No one word descriptors," I replied, sighing heavily. "Such a slave driver."

"Talking is healthy for you, so get to it," was all that Whitney replied with.

"It looks like I'll be cadet of the semester," I said as I looked back at her. "Again."

"Someone's got to do it," she said in a mock flippant remark. "Might as well be the guy who is scoring at the top of the detachment in the PFA and GPA." A new face suddenly came over her. "Ha. They both have 'P's and 'A's," she said in flat amusement.

"You're so weird sometimes," I told her as she did her little aside.

"Yeah, well, if you haven't noticed, you are too." We fell back into silence before I realized I was being both rude and inconsiderate to Whitney. Here she was trying to show an interest in my life and I was just being a sour-puss. I was in the middle of taking in the air to speak when Whitney beat me to the punch. "Don't worry about it," she said, seeming to perceive what I was thinking. "Like I said, take all the time you need. I'm just here to help you along."

"That's not fair to you though," I said. "It feels like you've given up so much for me ever since I've known you. I don't want you to be my Giving Tree. You deserve more than that."

"Your Giving Tree?" Whitney asked, seeming to not get the reference.

"Yeah, you know. The tree in that one story that just gives and gives until it's nothing but a stump."

"Is this another one of those bad jokes that you don't know when to give up on?"

"Wait, you've seriously never heard the story?"

"Guess it's like how you never heard about the Razgriz."

"Oh, we've got to find it now," I told her as I got up from my chair. "Come on, we're in a library, it should be easy to find."

"Okay," Whitney said with a large smile. I was glad I was able to lighten the mood between us. You can only do so much gloom in one day. We asked the person manning the desk much to their annoyance. It was a thing me and Whitney liked to do. Sure, there were computers that could find the book easy, but if there are people at the front desk, why not use them? After being polity reminded about the computers, they told us where to find the book. It was ironically next to 'Whitney and Caden's Corner.'

I found the book and we both sat together on a sofa in our area. I began to read the story to her. It felt weird to be reading a children's story to a nearly full grown woman, but being friends with said woman definitely helped.

"That was..." Whitney began straightening out on the couch, "interesting."

"You see, I feel like you're that tree and I'm that boy and that-"

"Caden, you've helped me out more than you could know. Don't go thinking that we're some weird tree and boy relationship."

"Why did you get the cool cultural story while I get the 'tree and boy relationship' story?" I muttered. Whitney just laughed a little and I joined up with her in a small chuckle.

"If it's such a big thing to you, I know how you can feel better about it," Whitney said, getting my attention again.

"What's that?" I asked, curious to see what she thought would level the playing-field again.

"Well," she began, her face suddenly turning red. "Never mind. Forget it, we're already even."

"What? No, come on, tell me." She looked at me apprehensively.

"Promise me you won't read into it?"

"I promise," I told her, wondering what was so embarrassing.

"Well," She began again. "There's a formal dance that the university puts on at the end of each year for the graduating class," she began.

"And you still need a date," I finished for her.

"No, I don't need a date," she quickly interrupted. "I mean... I would like one... but... you know... if it's weird... or anything-" she said brokenly before I cut in again.

"Whitney Elsworth," I began, standing up and offering my hand in mock chivalry. "It would be my greatest pleasure to take you to said formal dance."

"Cut it out," she said with a red face and smile, knocking my hand away. "Don't make this any weirder than it has to be. Let's just have a good time and be cool about it."

"Fine, fine," I said, sitting down again. "When is it exactly?" I asked her.

"About a month," she responded, still red but recovering.

"Already looking forward to it," I told her as we sat in silence again.

**.oOo.**

There was a loud boom that woke me up. I sat bolt upright in my bed and looked out my window. The lightning that I had thought was dying down was beginning to pick up again. Apparently, one of the bolts had struck pretty close. As the adrenalin for waking up suddenly left me, I realized how sweaty I was and got out of bed. I walked around the room for a moment, thinking about the dream I had been having. I didn't want to be having dreams about this, not right now. I didn't want to have to deal with them, not when there were so many other things I needed to focus on.

I looked back at my watch. 0137. I got back in bed but didn't put the sheets over me. I was too hot with them.

**.oOo.**

It's the curse of dreams that the last thing on your mind when you go to sleep is the subject of your nightly visions.

I was walking to Whitney's apartment complex. It hadn't been the first time I had visited her place she shared with two other women, but it was the first time I would be going there to pick her up for what was, for all intents and purposes, a date. But not really.

We had told each other, and others as well, that plenty of time throughout the month. We were just going to an event as a social aggregate of two.

As I approached the door to her apartment, I relaxed myself and quickly popped a mint. I got bad breath when I was nervous. But why was I nervous? I sucked the mint down to nothing quickly and checked my watch for the twentieth time in the last two minutes. I went to knock on the door only to have it pulled away before I made contact with it by one of Whitney's roommates.

"Caden!" she called loudly. Too loudly for a normal greeting. She was signaling someone. "It's so good to see you! You look so handsome, doesn't he Gina?" the girl asked in confirmation to her fellow roommate who was blocking the hallway of the apartment in an odd manner. The woman's eyes flicked to me and then behind her and then back to her roommate in seconds.

"Yep," she called out, also entirely too loud. "He sure is a looker,"

"Um," I began, unsure of what was going on. "Is Whitney-"

"She'll be out in a little bit," Gina said from her position in the hall. "Why don't you go on and have a seat in the living area." Her comment didn't feel all too much like a friendly suggestion as a forceful demand.

"That sounds good, I guess," I replied as I made my way to the couch in the living area. Gina made stressed silent conversation with the woman who greeted me at the door before moving down the hallway and into a door.

"Hi," the woman who had greeted me said holding out her hand. "I'm Bella. Whitney's talked a lot about you," she said, glancing at me and then the hallway and then back at me again.

"Nice to meet you Bella," I told her politely, taking her hand and shaking it delicately. It was my turn to glance towards the hallway. "Is everything alright?" I asked concernedly. Bella again glanced at the hallway and then back to me before speaking in a very hushed tone.

"You've been friends with Whitney for a long time, right?" she asked, constantly checking the hallway.

"Yes, what does-?"

"Ha, ha, that's great!" she called down the hallway surprising me.

"What's-"

"Sorry," she said quickly, speaking in a hushed voice again. "We can't let them think we're having this conversation so just say random things to throw them off some of the time."

"I totally agree!" I shouted in the direction of the hallway.

"Good, good. That's good. Okay, so you know Charles right?" My fists almost involuntarily clenched with my jaw as my eyes furrowed together. "Wow, that's exactly what she said you'd do," Bella said idly as she watched my reaction.

"What did he do?" I growled.

"Okay, you need to cool down a little," she said putting her hand over one of my fists. "Oh, that's a great idea!" she called out. I suddenly wasn't in the mood for the game.

"What did he do?" I repeated a little more forcefully.

"He sent a letter, okay?" she strained to whisper. "That's all he did, send a letter. He probably didn't mean any of it," she continued before she covered her mouth like she had let something slip. I raised my eyebrow in response and she quickly glanced back at the kitchen before she slammed her eyes shut like they had accidentally just revealed another terrible secret. I got up and began to walk towards the kitchen. "Ah, why don't you sit back down!" she called out loudly. When I didn't heed her words, she said the most unexpected thing I just had to stop and look back. "Hippopotamus!"

"What...?" I said as I looked at her in confusion before someone rushed down the hall way and into the kitchen snatching whatever was on the counter. I spun around to see Gina holding an envelope and a letter before hiding it behind her back.

"You dunce!" she yelled to Bella before she glanced at me and retreated back to Whitney's room. I was now thoroughly confused.

"What's going on?!" I yelled out through the apartment. I got no responses, just a concerned look from Bella. "Whitney? Are you here?" I called out again. "Is everything alright?" There was muffled conversation from one of the rooms in the hall before Whitney came out of the room followed immediately by a protesting Gina who stopped as soon as she was in the hall. If it weren't for the circumstances, I probably would've fallen over. Before me was a woman I hardly recognized as Whitney. She was so elegantly dressed and done up; the only thing that made me realize she was a being of this world was the tears that were streaking her face.

"Hey Caden," she said with a forced smile that made my heart jump to my throat with emotion.

"What's going on?" I asked her softly, not daring to move from my spot or speak any louder in fear of breaking something that was delicate and real yet intangible. She dropped her smile and turned towards Gina who still had the envelope in her hand. Whitney simply held out her hand for the envelope and after a silent conversation held just with their eyes, she was handed what she wanted. She walked towards me with the envelope in hand, the only sound in the apartment now the clicks of her shoes against the tile floor.

"I got a letter today," she said unceremoniously, handing off the paper in her hand to me. I didn't look at the letter at first, only held her gaze. I could see the hurt in her eyes and was apprehensive about reading the letter. What could Chuck have done to make her this upset? The faintest of smiles graced her for a moment, a genuine smile. I nodded slightly, not knowing what else to do. I finally looked down at the letter in my hands and began reading.

_Hello, Whitney._

_It has been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy back here in our backwater town working away at a meaningless job that has no greater calling than creating unhealthy Osean's because that Usean prick stole my destiny. But enough about me, let's talk about you. About how you lied to me when you said he had no part in what happened to us. Let's talk about how you two have been chumming it up since day one. Let's talk about how if I see him with you anymore, he's going to lose something quite valuable. Well, that was a nice talk, huh? See you soon,_

_Chuck_

As I finished the letter, I looked up to see all eyes trained on me.

"Has he shown himself?" I asked, breaking the trance in the room. Whitney just shook her head no. "Has he ever contacted you before?" I inquired again. The same response. "Do you still want to go to the dance tonight?" She stood still, the only inclination that she had heard me being her widened eyes.

"Caden, he said you would-"

"What can he do to me?" I asked her seriously. When she stayed quiet, I spoke again. "Tonight's about you, and if you want to go to a dance with a friend, then that's what's going to happen. I'm not going to let some guy who flips burgers back in Shubrick stop that. Whitney looked at me with worry, but as she glanced around to her friends she found the encouragement she needed.

"If you're not going with him," Bella began, "I'm going to take him up on that offer."

"Phft," Gina began looking back over at her other roommate. "Not before I do," she said placing a hand on her hip and giving Bella a look that made me feel like I was already in her possession.

"Neither of you get him," Whitney said, in a weird combination of sniffles and laughter. She turned back to me and said, "Just wait here for a few more minutes while I finish up." I smiled a little and nodded, still concerned about her welfare but glad she was still willing to have her fun tonight.

About fifteen minutes later, Whitney came back out of the hall and was ready to go off to the formal dance. It was a lot more fun than I had been expecting it to be. Some fellow cadets were even there and made it their business to make Whitney feel like royalty after I gave them a quick brief on what had happened before we came. The entire night Whitney looked like she was on top of the world, laughing, smiling, and dancing. We hardly noticed the time until an announcement came on about the last song coming up. I stood up from the table we were at as slow music began to fill the large ballroom and walked towards Whitney's chair. As her cheeks flushed, there was some encouragement and good natured jabs from my fellow cadets.

"Ms. Elsworth, it would be my greatest privilege if you would have this dance with me," I said as I held out my hand for her to take. Not having any of it she swiped it away and spoke in an abashed tone.

"Caden, cut it out," She told me unconvincingly. "You're making this super awkward," she continued as some of the cadets near enough to hear began to laugh at my antics.

"You know you like it," I told her as she stood up and walked to the main floor area with me. We danced together for a while and laughed once or twice but other than a few witty comments, we were generally silent. After the music ended, another announcement came out that the dance was done and we were to return back to our respective dwellings. We walked back towards our tables to pick up our coats. I made sure to thank my fellow cadets for what they had done and began to walk Whitney back home.

"I had a great time tonight, Caden" Whitney said when we were about twenty yards from her apartment.

"I did too," I replied. "Probably the best 'get even' task I've ever had," I continued earning a jab in the ribs. When we were at her door I bid her a goodnight and began to return back to my own place. I had just gotten back when my house phone began to ring. It was almost 0200 so I was more than perplexed at who could be calling at this hour. I walked over to the phone and picked it up. No sooner had I picked up the phone did I hear heavy panting and rushed swallows of air and saliva.

"Who is this?" I asked, wondering if it was some sort of prank call.

Over what sounded like someone recovering from a marathon came a one-worded question in the form of my name. "Caden?" I recognized the voice but it sounded out of context from when I last heard it.

"Bella?"

"Caden, you have to get back here he's-" the solid tone the phone gave was so sudden I jumped.

"Bella? Bella?! Hello?!" The line was dead. My palms were already sweating up, heart already beating, head already pounding and I hadn't even started running yet. I was about to rush out the door when my training kicked in. it would be stupid to run in without some form of back up. I quickly picked the phone back up again, my mind so rushed I almost miss-dialed the simple 911 phone number.

"Oured 911, what's the exact location of your emergency?" the operator asked coolly.

"2499 Olson Road, Vista View Apartments, Room number 183. I believe my friend's to be in grave danger, please send help immediately," I said so quickly I hoped they caught it all. I wasn't sticking around to verify. I began running, forgetting to shut my door, ignoring the sounds of my suit ripping, ignoring the people calling after me, ignoring the traffic that I ran into, through, and out of. I got to the apartments that had taken me forty minutes to walk to in less than fifteen, but I was already afraid that wasn't fast enough. I didn't stop to wait for someone to let me into the fenced in apartments, forgoing the formalities with simply jumping and climbing the chain link fence, wincing in slight pain as I ripped open my flesh passing over the top. I pushed through the pain easily when I thought about the phone call that had brought me here.

I continued sprinting up to Whitney's apartment door and halted myself from slamming into it. There were two ways I could go about this. One, I could go in with brute force and announce myself to whoever was at the apartment. That option, however, presented the possibility that the intruder could act violently to anyone they had. Two, I could sneak in and take them by surprise. Surprise seemed to be the smarter option. I quickly tried the door and found it to be as expected, locked. I looked at the window and blessed my luck that it was open. I quickly took the screen out with a hefty yet silent punch and entered the house.

It was darker and quieter than I imagined it could be with all the curtains drawn and the lights out. I began to feel my way through the darkness, finding the coffee table I had been at earlier this evening. I began to recall the mental image that I had of the apartment from my brief visit earlier today. Making my way to what I thought was the hallway, I heard whimpering from a door to my left. I slowly entered the room, the only light giving me direction was the muted tones coming through curtains that were drawn over a window. I looked around the room and determined no one was standing around. I chanced a look onto the bed and immediately regretted the decision. Even with the muted light, the sheen of blood on the quivering body was enough to make me want to toss the contents of my stomach.

I found a sheet on the floor and quickly covered Bella who was on the bed. She began to make more mumblings through the tape that was over their mouth. I undid the restraints made of similar material that were securing her to the bed and as soon as she was able, she removed the tape from her mouth. I put my finger up to my mouth and she nodded in understanding but still had trouble not crying out in anguish.

"Where are they," I asked so silently that I was afraid Bella hadn't heard me at first. She used one of her hands to cover her mouth in attempt to remain silent and the other to point back out the door I had come out of. "Stay quiet and hide yourself, the police should be here soon," I whispered to her again and she nodded. I helped her out of the bed, making sure the bed sheet I had covered her with continued to serve its purpose of conserving her remaining dignity. After I helped her hide in a closet, I walked back out into the hallway careful not to make any undue noise. I was almost at the end of the corridor when I heard him.

"I warned you this would happen," I heard the voice say. "I told you he would lose something valuable. Leave it to the greedy Usean to go on ahead with it anyways," the man snarled before adding, "I'll give him this though. He couldn't possibly have known he'd be losing you."

Clarity.

It was so pure, so sudden, I thought I had died and moved on. The silence was piercing, any wounds I had meant nothing because they were nothing. My vision seemed to sharpen and get brighter. I felt so alive and inexplicably giddy. Then I reacted.

I flashed into the room so suddenly that even I didn't know what happened. My focus was immediately on Charles. He was a mess. He had no shirt on and was glistening with sweat form the activities he had engaged in earlier. I had a flash of gratification seeing at least three scratch patters on his face, arms and chest. He was holding a bat that he was already raising towards me. But I had something he didn't.

Clarity.

I moved out of the way of his swing, narrowly missing the speeding object as it came for my head. I lunged forward at his abdomen, the smell of alcohol invading my nostrils as I made impact. The bat flew out of his hands, the oak instrument clunked to the floor in the same manner we did. I received a blow to my gut as Charles kicked me off of him but it only served to remove me from him. I no longer felt anything but rage.

I rushed back at him with nothing holding me back save a weakly executed swing from the drunkard in front of me. I gave the hardest blow I could muster to his right side, feeling bones give way to the force I exerted. There was a grunt of pain from Charles but little more as he pushed me away with strength I knew was only coming from his alcohol fueled body.

"YOU ARE GREEDY, YOU USEAN PIG!" he shouted at me as I regained my footing and charged him again. He was getting slower. I dodged another poor attempt at a volley of punches and made impact with the same spot I had last time, exploiting the pain I had already caused. It served to enrage him more. "YOU MADE ME DO THIS TO HER! IF I CAN'T HAVE-" I punched with my other hand and was satisfied with the pop sound I got in return when I hit his jaw. All he could manage now was a loud grunt of pain. I was about to turn my attention to Whitney when I heard the front door of the apartment splinter open. Within seconds, there was someone in the room with a gun leveled at me and then a second officer entered, leveling a gun at Charles.

"OPD! Hands behind your head and get down on the ground!" I quickly complied, dropping faster than a load of bricks as my hands flew up to the back of my head. "Get down on the ground!" the officer yelled again. I chanced a glance behind me to see Charles trying to get up again and going for the bat next to him. The other officer ran forward and secured him before much else could happen.

"My name is Caden Irving," I began as the other officer came behind me to cuff me. "I'm the one who called you. There's a woman in one of the front rooms in a closet. She needs medical attention." I then began to remember Whitney. She had been unusually silent. "Whitney?" I called out as the officer was cuffing me. "Whitney," I called again, looking to my side to try and get another look at her but the officer prevented me.

"Eye's forward," he said. It wasn't filled with any ill intent, but was forceful none the less.

"Please, you've got to check on that woman over there," I said to the man behind me. He pause a moment and glanced behind him before clicking on his radio.

"Dispatch, this is patrol O-5-9-12. We've got two suspects in custody and at least two victims. Send an ambulance, over."

"Copy that patrol, Cletus should be on location now. Your ambulance is on its way."

"Roger dispatch." I felt the man turn behind me again. "Brame, you good?" he asked.

"This guy smells like a distillery and is fighting like an ape. Can you spare a hand?" I felt the officer with me turn back to me.

"Don't move kid. I don't know what your role in this is yet, but if you run, I won't hesitate to shoot." Without any other words he let go of me and helped out his fellow officer as the wrestled Charles out of the apartment. I took the opportunity to look over Whitney.

"Whitney?" I asked as I stepped closer. It looked like she was asleep. I saw a large swell starting to form on her head and her breaths were shallow but she wasn't answering. "Whitney?" I asked again. Outside, flashes got brighter and sirens got louder until skidding tires and squeaking breaks could be heard.

**.oOo.**

I woke up again, but I was so tired that it felt like I hadn't slept at all. I didn't have any will power to do anything. I was drained. I peered at my watch and saw it was almost eight in the morning. A soft knock came to my door.

"Yeah," I called out. The door opened slightly and someone peered in. Someone being Kei.

"Hey," she said as she squeezed into the room and softly shut the door behind her.

"Hey."

"Look, about last night-"

"No, you were right to be upset," I began looking down at my feet, to ashamed to look her in the face. "I shouldn't have snooped in your stuff and I'm-"

"Caden," she interjected as she came to my side and sat with me on the bed. "I'm not saying what you did was right, but I understand why you did it. I love you and my book isn't something that can change that." I picked up her hand and looked her in the eyes.

"I love you too," I replied eliciting a grin from her that made me feel better.

"So, what do you have planned for today?"

"Well," I began with one of the deeper breaths I had ever taken. "I think it's only right I get to show you something pretty deep and personal now."

"Caden, you don't have to-"

"No," I interrupted. "No, I think it's time you meet Whitney."


	25. -Five Minutes-

**Five Minutes**

When I told Chopper Kei and I were going to be out for a bit, he only told me to be back in time for supper. We had received our small clothing allowances from the base we landed at earlier in the week in the form of prepaid cards. After Kei and I picked ours up, we walked out to the car we were using for the few days we were here.

"Let's get some actual clothes first," I told her tugging at my own shirt. "It's weird wearing someone else's."

"I hear you on that one," Kei responded, looking down at her own borrowed apparel. We drove off to an all-in-one store that had just about everything you could need and bought some necessities. After paying for the clothes and going back to change in the changing rooms, we were on our way again. I began to head downtown as Kei spoke up.

"So, this Whitney," she began, turning her whole body to me in her passenger seat.

"Yeah?" I asked when she didn't add anything else.

"What's she like?" Kei asked as if she had already asked it.

"To be honest," I began, "I haven't seen her in a while."

"So you can't tell me anything about her cause you haven't met in a while?"

"We were friends for as long as I've lived in Osea," I began as I turned down a street. "My family and hers always did stuff together. Camping, cards, New Years, that kind of stuff. We even ended up going to the same college together without really planning it.

"Did you tell her you were coming?" She asked as I pulled into a vacant spot.

"It wasn't necessary," I told her as I pulled into a parking garage that was across the street from a hospital.

"Caden, this is a parking garage," Kei told me as if I didn't know.

"Yup."

"Is she a hobo?" She asked almost jokingly.

"Nope," I replied with seriousness. Kei's smile almost melted away in an instant. I parked the car on the third level of the structure and got out of the car. Kei lagged behind for a moment as she grasped at what we were doing.

"Where are we-?"

"How about I just show you," I said cutting her off much to her annoyance. I wasn't trying to get on her nerves, but being this close was starting to bring back the feelings and too much prodding would just make it hurt more. "I promise all of this will make sense soon, but for now, just trust me." Kei stopped what she was just about to say and just looked at me while we walked to a covered bridge that was over a street connecting the parking garage to the hospital.

"I always trust you, Caden," she said softly as we walked across the bridge. "I'm just curious about this girl you've never mentioned until now."

"Like I said," I replied as we walked into the hospital. "It's deep and personal." Kei continued to look at me with billions of questions floating behind her eyes but resisted the clear urge she had to ask them. I walked up to a receptionist but before I could even ask a question, she happened to look up at me before I reached her.

"Caden?" the forty something woman asked me. "Is that you?"

"Hey Dora," I replied as I reached the counter. "It's been a while."

"I'll say. She's only had her sister, Kim, coming in the last couple of months. She's here now, in fact. It'll be good for her to see she's not the only one who comes." She looked me over again as if I had changed in the half a year she hadn't seen me. "Thought you had gone off and deployed somewhere. Knew you were still alive when the payments kept coming but still..."

"Well, you were right about me getting deployed," I said smiling a little. "I'm on... leave right now, thought I stop by and drop in."

"Well," Dora said stepping back from around the counter with a kind smile. "I'll take you to her. Who's your friend?" she said looking over at Kei who seemed to have even more questions on the verge of escaping her lips.

"Dora, this is Kei, my wing-mate. Kei, this is Dora. She's the nurse who looks after Whitney and some other patients here."

"Pleased to meet you," Kei said shaking the hand of the woman who offered it to her.

"Same here," Dora said with a kind smile. "Well, let's go see what the Elsworth girls are up to." She began to walk off as me and Kei fell in behind her. She pushed open a pair of doors with large block letters above them that read; LONG TERM CARE FACILITY. Kei looked over at me again but I continued on. She would know soon enough.

"The doctors are holding out hope," Dora began as we walked down the very quiet halls. "They aren't going to move her until January, provided your payments keep coming through. They say she has been stable and that there have been slight improvements every so often. Nothing big enough to cause her to be moved, but still..."

"Caden," Kei finally broke. "Why does she keep saying, 'your payments'?" Dora stopped walking and turned towards me with a shocked face.

"You haven't told her?"

"I really haven't told anyone except Kim," I admitted as I rubbed my neck.

"Told Kim what?" Kei asked again. "Who's Kim?" she added. I knew she must've been going nuts.

"Honey," Dora began speaking to Kei. "Mr. Irving here is pretty much covering all the expenses to keep Whitney here. Kim, Whitney's sister, contributes what she can, but it's mostly been Caden who's been keeping her here and not some nursing home. Or worse..." she said trailing off.

"But why keep her here?" Kei asked again, knowing she was getting answers from Dora. The nurse looked over at me.

"How much have you told her?" Dora asked in a somewhat annoyed voice.

"Nothing," I mumbled as I looked anywhere but the woman. She looked over at Kei and then at me with a scowl.

"You're driving her mad, you know that?" Turning her attention back to Kei she began again. "Honey, Whitney's been in a coma for a little over half a year now. She was transferred here because we have the best doctors for people with her condition." Kei looked even more confused now. Just as Dora was about to speak again, Kim came out of a room near the end of the hall and froze when she saw us. She slowly approached our now silent group as if we were some dangerous thing she was unsure of.

"Caden?" she asked when she was no more than four feet away.

"Hey Kim," I said, raising my hand in a half hearted wave. What she did next surprised everyone in our group. I was suddenly engulfed in a hug that was quickly being soaked with tears from Kim. Dora looked at us for a moment before taking Kei's shoulder and leading her back out the doors of the hallway. The whole way out, Kei kept glancing back at me, a multitude of questions clouding her face. Once they were out of the hall, Kim cried and hugged for another minute before she cooled down.

"Sorry," she said, removing herself from the embrace she had initiated.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She sniffled in and wiped her eyes before nodding the affirmative.

"It's just been hard. Dora told me that I wasn't the only one who visits but she never told me who the other person was. I think she thought I was still... you know..." she began trailing off.

"It's nothing," I began but she suddenly cut me off.

"It was too something!" She yelled causing me to jump a little. "That way of thinking, the way I treated you, that was what got my sister like this," she cried out waving towards the door she had come out of. She was silent for another couple of moments. Finally, she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you when we were kids. Osean or not, you're one of the kindest people I know, and I think I knew that back then. It's probably why I hated you. You were supposed to be all these bad things and you weren't any of them. I know I have no right to ask it, but can you forgive me?" she asked with another bout of tears ready to fall.

"I forgive you," I told her as I gave her another hug. After a few moments of silence, we separated again. Kim began to dry her eyes again and looked me over.

"So, where've you been?" she asked trying to regain normalcy.

"Deployed," I responded.

"That's...?" she asked unsure of how I felt about it.

"Good. It's been good," I replied.

"Who was that with you and Dora?" she asked after a moment.

"My wing mate. I thought I'd bring her here to help explain some things." Kim nodded and took another deep breath.

"You mind if I visit with you guys? I don't think I'm ready to leave just yet."

"Yeah, of course," I replied. "She's your sister, you've got more of a right to her than I do." Kim almost laughed.

"I think the one who's paying to keep her here has the call over that."

"It's nothing," I responded. Dora poked herself through the swing doors again.

"You two good?" she called out. Once we both nodded, she brought Kei back into the hallway with her. Once Kei was at my side she proceeded to punch me in the arm. As I grunted at the sudden pain she spoke lowly to me.

"If I had thought you father being Mobius One was big..."

"Sorry," I muttered out. We began walking towards the room again, Kei and I following Dora and Kim. Once Dora reached the room she looked at us and held open the door.

"I'll leave you here. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Thanks Dora," I said as we walked into the room. It had been well over seven months since I had last visited Whitney, yet she looked exactly the same as the last time I had seen her. There was no longer any evidence of the physical trauma she had received that night, but that had been taken care of almost within three weeks of the attack. The mental damage... that was still recovering and hopefully, would continue to recover until she was up and walking again. Kim took the chair next to Whitney's right while Kei took a seat by the window. I choose to stand for the moment at the foot of the bed. Her brown hair was around her head, somehow curled even after months of her not touching it herself.

"What happened afterwards?" Kei asked after a couple of moments of silence. "Dora told me about the attack but just enough that I wasn't going crazy anymore." I took a deep breath, collecting my thoughts that I had kept buried for a long time. I noticed Kim looking at me as well, wanting to hear everything from my perspective.

"I was taken to the police station in Oured. It was only after Bella convinced them that I wasn't the culprit but the rescuer that they let me out of the temporary holding cell. Then they realized, along with myself, that I was injured. I had been so high on adrenalin and feelings that I didn't realize the wounds I had got. When I had jumped a fence to get into the housing complex, I had nicked my thigh at the top of the fence. Turns out, a half an inch or so to the left and I would've hit my femoral artery. Then, when I had my scuffle with Charles, He had kicked me in the gut. That one bruised my liver and cracked a couple of ribs. Bella had been the only one that was able to walk out of the apartment that night. Ginna..." I remembered hearing it myself that night and being overcome by insurmountable guilt. "Three hundred seconds," I simply said, dropping my head.

"What?" Kim asked from beside her sister. I looked up at her and then to Kei. They were both wondering what I had meant.

"They told me that Whitney had been struck about five minutes before I arrived, that Ginna had..." I took another calming breath of air, fighting emotions that were welling up in my throat and eyes. "That Ginna had passed about five minute before I got there." I chuckled morosely. "Impossible to think of time as so valuable a commodity until you realize what can happen in the span of three hundred seconds." The two women were quiet as they just looked between me and Whitney. After a couple of seconds of silence, I continued.

"Charles was charged with it all, you could probably count the things he didn't do illegally on one hand. There was supposed to be a trial about six months ago."

"Supposed to?" Kei asked. "Are you telling me that monster is still out there?" she said waving out the window. It was Kim's turn to speak up.

"He was killed before it could happen."

"Kim," I began looking at her and sighing. "It was a suicide."

"That's the 'official' story," Kim said emphasizing the word official greatly.

"What do you mean?" my wing-mate asked, getting confused.

"It's nothing-" I began only to be cut off by Kim.

"About a month after Charles gets transferred to a more secure holding, he winds up dead hanging in his cell," Kim began telling the facts of the story first. "It all looks to be a regular suicide at first, until you look deeper."

"Kim-" I tried to begin but was cut off again.

"Caden! There was no way for him to get himself up there! Third party autopsies even show defensive wounds! Why don't you want to believe it?"

"Because who would do it to him? The only person who had access to that room, via retinal scan none the less, was the police chief and he had been at the charity banquet giving a speech at the time of death. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he'd get convicted and with the charges against him, it was either going to be a life or death sentence. Either of those would be enough to make someone do what he did."

"Maybe someone wanted to make sure he got death," Kim mumbled turning back to her sister on the bed. I took a deep breath. I didn't come here to argue, I came here to share with Kei. But I needed to cool down before I could do any more of that.

"I'm going to get something to drink, either of you want something?"

"I'm good," Kim said softly without looking up.

"I'll take some green tea if they have it," Kei said just as softly. I nodded and left the room with the two women who were virtually strangers alone together. I had a brief thought of weather that was a good idea or not but the need for a beverage quickly overwhelmed the small thought. As I walked back into the reception area, Dora saw me and walked over to me as I approached a counter with drink mixes and water.

"How's it going?" she asked as I found some green tea bags hidden behind other boxes of drink mix.

"I'm beginning to wonder why I came here," I replied with yet another heavy sigh as I poured hot water into a Styrofoam cup and placed the tea bag into the water. "I thought I would come here and see Whitney and just get over all this crap that's going on with me, but it just seems to be bringing up more crap," I finished as I made myself some hot coco. Dora just nodded silently as she peered up into my eyes.

"Why did you bring your wing-mate?" She asked after a moment.

"Huh?"

"Was it for moral support? Or something else?" Dora asked ignoring my perplexed statement.

"I don't know," I began to which Dora gave a disbelieving glare. "She's important to me," I began quietly. Dora didn't seem to be surprised. "I figured that I should share an important part of my life with her," I continued. Dora nodded to let me know she was following me but her next question threw me off.

"Why is this an important part of your life Caden?" It was a simple enough question, but I had no Idea how to answer it. I had always felt that this was an important part of my life, but why? Seeming to pick up on my inability to answer her question, Dora offered her own explanation.

"This wing-mate, Kei, you said she's important to you too, right? Why is she important Caden?"

"Because she's a great person who cares for me," I replied without a thought. Even as I said it, I began to think through the seemingly brief amount of time I had known Kei. The little jokes we had, the trust we put in each other whenever we flew, the support we provided when it was needed. In only a couple of months, I had gained with her what had taken years to form with... Whitney.

"Are you seeing it now?" Dora asked, the trace of a smile only on her face if you looked for it. I couldn't look for it though. There was a lump in my throat so large that it demanded all my attention in order for me not to pass out from the flood of feelings and realizations.

"Why did you bring your wing-mate, Caden?" Dora repeated.

"Because I love her," I confessed just above a whisper.

"I think there's more to it than that," Dora said with her barely noticeable grin becoming only slightly more noticeable. "I think that Whitney and this wing-mate, Kei, I think they have more in common than you realize about how you feel about them. I think that's why you brought Kei here today. To show her that you're not going to hide anything from her, even an old flame."

I was just transfixed on my cup. Every word the nurse spoke to me resonated as true. How had I been so blind to it? Had Whitney known? Would Kei know?

"And I thought that psychology class had been a waste," Dora said to herself as she left me at the beverage station. I only noticed that Dora was gone ten seconds after the fact and decided I would go see how Kim and Kei were doing. Grabbing Kei's beverage, I made my way back to the room. I was just about to enter when Kim came out of the door.

"Hey," she said looking up at me. "Thanks again for stopping by and seeing her. I know it seems pointless sometimes, but it's the thought that counts with these types of things."

"It wasn't a problem," I told her. After she nodded slightly she spoke up again.

"Well, I hope I see you again some time. Take care Caden."

"You too Kim," I told her as she walked off. After she went through the swinging doors, I quietly walked into the room Kei and Whitney were at. So quietly in fact, that Kei didn't seem to notice me, and so continued what she was doing as if no one was there.

"So you were first..." Kei said softly as she stood by the woman she was looking over who appeared to be nothing more than asleep. "I don't know whether to be jealous or grateful of you," she continued. I thought about letting Kei know I was behind her, listening in, but I also wanted to know what Kei was talking about. "I mean, he did love you," she said, sounding a little hurt. "But you also opened him up to love. I don't want to even think about how long it would've taken us if you hadn't." She reached down and took Whitney's hand. "Thank you," she said quietly.

I took a couple of steps back and quietly opened the door and then cleared my throat. Kei spun around and dropped Whitney's hand rather quickly as she saw me entering the room for what she thought was the first time since I'd left.

"They had green tea," I said as I walked over and handed the cup to her. She smiled briefly and took the tea, sipping at the warm beverage.

"Thanks," Kei said after a few moments. I gave her a puzzled look before she expanded. "Thanks for sharing this with me. I know it couldn't have been easy.

"I realize that what I did with your book and personal thoughts was wrong. I know this doesn't make it right, but I want you to know that I wasn't trying to go behind your back. I guess I just want you to know that I don't want to hide anything from you. That's why I brought you here," I said, telling her what I myself had just realized a couple of minutes ago. Kei nodded, not saying anything. I looked at my watch and noticed it was already 1600.

"We'd better get back to Chopper's place," I told her. She nodded in agreement and left Whitney in the room. When we got into the car, I was afraid it would be a long awkward silence the whole ride back. But instead, Kei had some more questions.

"So, what was she like?"

"Who?" I asked, not sure of whom she had meant. She had met three different women today.

"Whitney, what was she like?" Kei said with a slight smile on her face. "And don't be like you were on the way here either. Real answers." This line of questioning I expected just as much as finding out Grimm had an extra arm he was hiding from us. To say I was unprepared was an understatement.

"Well, uh... she liked camping," I began, remembering all the times our two families had gone on outdoor adventures. "That put her at odds with Kim a lot of the time. Kim didn't like the outdoors."

"Did she and Kim fight a lot?" Kei asked.

"I don't know, if they did, they did it away from everyone."

"What else?" Kei asked after a moment of silence.

"She knew a lot about past conflicts, which, you would never expect. She picked it up from hearing stories from her family more than actually searching for it but she always had a sharp memory. Her hand writing was very girly." I said glancing at Kei as I emphasized very. She had a wide grin on her face that told me she was actually enjoying the conversation. I quirked an eyebrow at her. "What are you so interested for?"

"Well, the way I see it," Kei began with a mischievous smile. "When she wakes up, we're just going to have to be friends. She'll know all these great stories..." I lost color from my face at the thought of Kei learning some of the embarrassing stories Whitney could tell. "Great stories indeed," Kei finished the smile not leaving her face as she looked back out onto the road.

We arrived at Chopper's place a couple of minutes later and were both in a better mood than when we had left.

"Hey you two," Raenay said from the kitchen as me and Kei came in.

"Uncle Blaze! Aunt Edge!" Vicki cried out as she ran from the kitchen into the hallway Kei and I were in.

"Hey there!" Kei said with enthusiasm as Vicki ran towards us. "You can call me Kei if you'd like," my wing-mate said as she hefted the small child.

"Okay," Vicki said without a second thought.

"And you can call me Caden," I told the child. Hopefully she would-

"Nah," she replied with a giggle that Kei mimicked. I put my hands on my hips in mock frustration.

"I see how it is," I told them both, only making them laugh harder.

"Aunt Kei, I have to show you something!" Vicki cried out, scrambling back down to the floor and out of Kei's grasp. Once she rounded a corner, Kei turned back to me.

"Well, it's better than aunt Edge," she told me with a small smile.

"Aunt Kei?!" Vicki called from around the corner.

"Coming," Kei said sending me another smile before departing towards Vicki's last known location. I began to walk towards the kitchen I had heard Raenay call out of and found her cutting up some tomatoes.

"Sounds like you to kissed and made up," Raenay said without looking up from her work, for which I was glad; I was beginning to turn the color of the bright red food.

"I don't remember kissing," I muttered out.

"Oh, even better," Raenay said with a little smirk, making me turn even darker.

"It wasn't like-"

"Hey Kid!" Chopper said as he entered the kitchen with a dark green apron on that said 'kiss the cook' in bright red cursive and a burger flipper in his right hand.

"Hey," I replied, relieved that Chopper had relieved me of his wife's torment. Or so I thought.

"Did you and Kei kiss and make up?" My flushed appearance came back within seconds.

"He said he doesn't even remember kissing," Raenay said teasingly to her husband.

"Way to go Kid!" Chopper said holding up the burger flipper in his hand.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" I shouted out, red as... red as the most red thing you could imagine.

"Right, got it," Chopper said slyly as if he were catching on to a secret that he thought he should keep. "So, you up to some grilling? You were pretty good at it back on Sand Island."

"You were drunk," I said cooling down a little at the change of subject. "I could've dropped the burgers in the ground and you would've liked them."

"Well it's that or help Ray-"

"Where's the grill?"

"Oh, I see how it is," Raenay said sticking the knife she was holding right into the wood cutting board.

"Ray," Chopper said in a whiny tone as he walked behind his wife. "That ruins them."

"Sorry honey," she replied as she turned around and hugged her husband. It started out PG but I began to get uncomfortable shortly after.

"I'm going to go find the grill," I told the couple as I made my way out of the room.

I found the grill soon after and David, Chopper's father, attending it.

"Hello again," he said with a smile as I joined him out on the large patio.

"Hello Mr. Davenport," I replied. "I was told I was to help you out?"

"First of all, don't call me Mr. Davenport. Makes me feel old. Sure, I may be that way, but I still don't like to feel it."

"Sorry sir," I replied.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Second, I've already got that Hans boy helping me out. Why don't you go see if Raenay needs any help?" I groaned internally as I resigned to my fate. As I made my way to the kitchen, I passed Chopper who was heading back to the patio where his father was. His lips were a much more noticeable red than I had remembered seeing them. Once I walked into the kitchen, Raenay looked up and saw me again.

"Sorry about that," she said looking only mildly embarrassed. "So, did you decide to help me out after all?"

"Grill was already fully staffed," I told her as I walked towards where she was. The kitchen was a wide open space with white cupboards and drawers and black granite counter-tops. It looked very utilitarian.

"Oh, so more forced to help me, is that it?" she said with a smile. "I know, I can be intimidating sometimes but I swear, I don't bite."

"So what am I helping with?" I asked her ignoring her remark.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, we're having burgers tonight. I'm cutting up some tomatoes and Vicki got enough lettuce leaves separated to last till new years so all you really need to do is set the table. Think you can manage that?" she added with a teasing smile. I just rolled my eyes and went to work setting the table.

"So," Raenay said after I had put ketchup and mustard on the table. "Where did you and Kei go today?"

"To see one of my friends," I replied. Raenay nodded as she finished up with the tomatoes and put them in a serving bowl. She then began to help me set the table.

"Are you ready for the fly by tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I replied as I put out the lettuce. "It'll be nice to fly without having to go off and shoot people down for a change," I told her. She nodded as if she knew what I was talking about. Catching my curious glance she elaborated.

"Alvin talks about how you don't like being all gun-ho all the time. It's refreshing to hear and see."

"Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so," I responded as I put set out plates for eight people. Vicki suddenly burst through the room with high pitched giggling. Almost as soon as she entered she was gone. Raenay and I looked at each other for half a second before an out of breath Kei popped in.

"Hey Caden," she said as she leaned on the entryway trying to get a breather. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a small child about yea high," she continued as she raised her hands to her waist. I then saw a small head pop around the corner. It was obvious to everyone in the room except Vicki that she had been spotted.

"Was said child a girl who was laughing?" I questioned, making the girl look at me and, as if it were some secret, put her finger up to her mouth for me to be quiet.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Kei said again with a grin on her face as she looked back at me, her breath and speech coming back to normal.

"Then in that case, I haven't seen her," I replied, winking where Vicki was. The small child laughed but realized she had 'given away' her position as her hands flew up to her mouth and her eyes widened comically.

"Who could that have been?" Kei asked knowing full well that Vicki was trying to hide from her. Almost immediately the little girl sprinted off towards a new section of the house. "Ugh," Kei cried out as she sat down on one of the chairs. "I give up."

"Good thing we're ready for dinner then," Raenay said as she grinned at the other woman. "Caden, why don't you go let Alvin, David, and Hans know we're ready for them." I nodded and left the room to let the other three men know we were ready to eat. Once we were all seated, we began a delicious meal that I had been craving for over a month.

"I'm so ready for tomorrow," Chopper said after we had all nearly finished our meals. "It's been forever since I've flown down here."

"I'm just honored they're letting us do the ceremony," Grimm said as he put down his glass he had been drinking out of.

"It's a testament to each of your skills," I reminded everyone. "We're here because each and every one of you played their part flawlessly. I couldn't be prouder."

"Here's to that," David called out as he rose his glass which was quickly followed by his wife's. Even Vicki raised her cup of juice to join all of us. When everyone was done eating and talking, we went to bed early. Tomorrow would be a big day.


	26. -Gone in 300 Seconds-

**Gone in 300 Seconds**

There are a few ways that I like to be woken up. There are many more that I don't like. Kei calling my name softly through the door to my room was one of the ones that fell into the first category.

"Caden?" I murmured in response to the call. "You need to get up. The Base Commander has come down from Sand Island to brief us specifically." Then she dropped her voice to an annoyed tone. "Why he decided it had to be at 0700 is beyond me though..."

"What time is it?" I asked after hearing we were to be at the base at such an early time.

"Don't worry, I gave you more time to get ready than back in Oured. Just hurry up." With that said, she left the room. I looked around for a clock and after finding the search useless, looked at my watch. 0610. More time my ass.

I quickly got changed into a flight suit and rushed down the stairs of the house. It was still pitch black outside but the rest of the flight was already at the door waiting for me.

"Did you get your beauty sleep in, Kid?" Chopper asked.

"I just don't know what's wrong with him," Kei said. "I woke him up at five thirty like you told me to, but I guess he fell back to sleep." Kei was lucky she was facing away from the rest of the group or they would've seen the ostentatious smile on her face that proved she was lying.

"Come on," Chopper said with a humored smile, "We'd better get going or else be late for the Colonel."

"Can I at least get something to eat?" I whined as I finished descending the stairs.

"Here's a banana," Kei said, handing me the bright yellow fruit with a smile.

"Better than nothing," I muttered, my smile joining hers as Grimm and Chopper walked through the front door of the house.

"Damn straight," Kei said with a large smile as she quickly gave me a kiss in the brief private moment we had. Before anything could progress, she broke off the intimate act and ran out towards the car we would drive, leaving me standing like a fool with an open mouth and banana in hand.

"Come on you monkey!" Chopper yelled from the driver side door.

"I'm coming," I called out as I stepped outside and shut the door behind me. Once I was in the car we were off and headed towards the air base which was only a fifteen minute drive away. We quickly made our way to the building where we would be getting our briefing from the Colonel and waited. It was 0710 by the time I heard heavy footfalls outside the room. Hurry up and wait. Once I called the room to stand-by, we waited a further ten seconds before the obese man walked in and moved us to attention. The same smug yet dissatisfied smirk was still on his face. Must be there for good.

"You may be seated," he began civilly. "We're holding a peace ceremony at the stadium of November City. Our Vice-President will be giving a speech to rally the citizens. Now," he said, inhaling deeply, as if this next point was somehow bothering him. "All of you've been asked to do a fly-by above the ceremony. Don't screw this up!" he said with force. It was one of the few times the man could actually scare me. But almost as soon as his empty threat was done, his face drifted back to one of indifference. "You should consider this an honor and do your part to boost citizen morale. This is the Vice-President we're dealing with here, so consider this a guard detail as well. Be prepared for anything out there." Suddenly, the board look on the Colonel's face was replaced by one of confusion. It took me a moment to figure out why. At this new base, he didn't know where the button to start the real briefing was. It was an unimaginable struggle not to laugh as he searched for the switch for the projector. Once he finally found it, the lights dimmed and an image was projected onto one of the hanging canvases at the front of the room.

"Your mission this time takes place above November International Stadium, a gigantic seventy-thousand-seat-arena located in the center of November City on the southern coast line of Osea," the briefing began. "Vice-President Appelrouth is giving a speech there and you'll be conducting a fly-by above the stadium as part of the production. You can return to base at 1730 hours, the time the speech is scheduled to end. After the fly-by, remain in formation and conduct a combat air patrol in and around the stadium until that time. This is a ceremonial flight, but you will be fully armed in case of an emergency. Don't forget to patrol the airspace surrounding the stadium too." As the room came back to a brighter lighting, questions began to filter into my mind. I wasn't able to dwell on them, however, as the Colonel was already telling us that would be all. Once he left the room, we all began to head towards the bases main facility for some planning time before we were to head up into the air.

"Does anyone else think that they are emphasizing the worst case scenario a little much?" Grimm asked as we stepped outside.

"I was thinking that too," I told the younger man. "Why would Yuktobania come this far inland this late into the conflict?"

"The same reason they would go as deep as Apito," Kei told both of us. "Hate." I suddenly remembered my encounter with the Belken pilot yet again. That had been a onetime thing right?

"I'm just excited to fly in an urban setting again," Chopper said in an upbeat tone. "It's so cool when the sun starts to set and reflects off windows and the dark sides of buildings become all checkered. Just awesome."

We were almost in side of the building we were walking towards when someone called out to our group.

"Nagase?" I looked at Kei along with Chopper and Grimm and then to the woman who was calling her name. "Kei Nagase, is that you?" I noticed that Kei had one of those dangerous emotionless faces on her and that she wasn't moving any more.

"Kei," I whispered to her, "Are you okay?" Slowly, Kei put on a forced smile, a process that seemed to put her through a lot of pain. Then she turned just as slowly to the lone approaching woman who had Technical Sergeant ranks on her shoulders and a mix of curiosity and excitement on her face.

"Hello, Chelsie," Kei said once she had completely faced the approaching woman. The reaction of the Sergeant was one of shock.

"Oh my... I can't..." She gave up on words and rushed my wing-mate. I almost jumped at them to break up whatever was about to happen but stopped when Chelsie wrapped Kei up in a hug. A one sided hug. "I had heard they sent you to waste away on Sand Island," the woman began unwisely. "I'm so glad those were just rumors." Kei took a deep breath. The ice in her next statement was enough to make even outer space become colder.

"They weren't rumors. I'm stationed at Sand Island. Along with the rest of my..." the cold in her voice fell away as she thought about the people who were looking at her with confused faces. "Friends." Chelsie finally let go of Kei and stepped back to get a better look at her.

"Well, now you've got another one joining you today," she said in a chipper mood, seeming to not catch the death that had been in Kei's voice only moments ago. Or the death in the stare she was receiving even now.

"Chelsie, I'm not sure what you think we are-"

"Hey, I heard that the Four Wings of Sand Island are here on base today to perform the fly-by later. Did you guys come with them?" Then, as if she was being discrete, the Sergeant leaned in towards Kei and whispered loudly, "I've heard from people who've met them before that the guy who's called Blaze is quite the looker." Kei's face became a torrent of emotions and colors. Sensing that the situation was about to go volatile, I spoke up.

"Actually," I began, pulling Kei out of her, most likely, violent thoughts. "We're the Wings of Sand Island. Kei here is actually our flight lead," I said with authority, letting the rest of the flight know that, right here and now, what I had just said was absolute truth.

"Yep, that's totally how it is," Chopper said with a nervous nod.

"Truest words ever spoken Capta- I mean Blaze," Grimm said nearly choking on his words. Chelsie suddenly got a very interested look on her face as she eyed me. "I mean... crap," Grimm muttered as he finished. I quickly stole a glance at the young guy who was now just palming his head in frustration at not doing a good job. Chelsie then brought my attention back to her.

"So you're Blaze," she began as she looked me up and down. I felt very naked in that moment and desperately wanted to find a shower to clean off in.

"I think we should go do that thing we were going to do at the place," I said hastily as I noticed Kei starting to tremble.

"Yes, the thing," Chopper added quickly, picking up on the palpable tension that was undetected by the Technical Sergeant. "The thing at the place."

"Captain?" I called out to Kei who shook her head to clear it. "Should we head to the place to go do the thing?" I asked.

"Yes, that is what we should and will do," Kei replied in her best authoritative voice.

"I'll lead you there," The woman who had just joined us said. Without waiting for a response that would've told her, 'no thanks,' she began to walk inside the building we were to have our meeting in. How she knew where it was going to be let alone what it was going to be about got me thinking on how she could have deciphered our ambiguous discussion. We were to be briefed on the layout and general path of the fly-by we would be executing. This would essentially be our planning time for the whole performance we would be doing tonight. It was scheduled to take until 1500 with a 1200 lunch break. That was over six hours of planning. Needless to say none of us were looking forward to it.

"Your Liaison will be with you shortly," Chelsie said in a sing-song voice as she left the room. Once he was sure she was out of hearing range, Grimm spoke up.

"I thought she would never leave," he said with a large exhale like he had been holding his breath.

"Who was she," I asked Kei who was still clenching her fists.

"You remember me telling you about that 'friend' who forgot about me once she got promoted?" I began to see where the hostility was coming from.

"You going to be okay?" I asked her as I laid a hand on her shoulder. She began to relax a little and unclench her fists.

"As long as you're here," she said looking up at me with a smile.

"GET A ROOM!" Chopper yelled jokingly from where he was causing both of us to shade a little and look at him with a subtle glare. Grimm just found the ceiling a very interesting topic of visual study as Chopper spoke again. "Adorable," was all he offered as he looked back down at a large map that was laid out on a table at the front of the room. Kei and I were walking up to it when we heard another person enter the room.

"Greetings Wardog," A chipper voice said that I already knew I would be sick of in twelve more seconds. "I am your November City Liaison." Everyone was quiet for several seconds as we just looked at Chelsie. Her smile was reminiscent of one of those plastic dolls that just had one facial expression set to the maximum cheeriness level. It made me want to gag. "Let's get started," Chelsie said after entirely too long of a time.

"Yes, let's," Kei echoed coldly. Six hours.

Our noon lunch break couldn't have come slower. By the time it rolled around, we all but leaped out of our chairs and into a break room with a vending machine, fridge, and microwave.

"Hey, Kid, is it cool if I go and phone home?" Chopper asked as we all sat down at a small table with our vending machine lunches.

"Go on ahead Mr. ET," I told him with a grin. "I think we will be able to manage eating without out you." Chopper suddenly grabbed his heart as if it were in pain.

"That hurt Kid," he said with fake sorrow. "That hurt deep."

"Oh, cut it out. You know we love you, Chopper," Kei said with a smile.

"Wow," Chopper said lifting both his hands into the air and looking up at the ceiling. "It's a miracle. The hurt is all gone and in its place is an angelic choir singing of the greatness that is me."

"Some of the time," Kei said flatly, rolling her eyes. Chopper just smiled and shooed us away with his hands as he walked out of the room.

"You guys are great," his voice called out from down the hallway.

"He should've been called Goober," Grimm said with a smile.

"Who should've been called Goober?" someone said from the doorway. Someone who no one wanted to talk to. Grimm just cleared his throat and looked down at his half finished yogurt, pushing it around in his cup with a spoon. Ignoring the clear sign that she was unwelcome, Chelsie came in and sat down at the table, folding her hands and looking around, finally resting her eyes. On me.

"So, Blaze," she began. "I bet it get' pretty lonely over there at Sand Island." A brain dead duck could've seen where this conversation was going, and I didn't want to go there. So, I formulated an answer that would shut her down.

"Actually," I began, looking from Kei to Grimm and then back out the hall that Chopper had gone through. "I've got plenty of good company back there. We've all got each other's back, both on and off the ground."

"Oh, I'm sure the comradely is great," Chelsie said quickly. "But I was more referring to off base interactions. I'm betting there aren't a lot of opportunities to... enjoy yourself." Had she practiced different scenarios? My musings were distracted only for a moment by Grimm who let a single snicker out of his tightly pursed lips. I then remembered our discussion in the mess hall back at Sand Island what seemed like ages ago. I cracked a small smile of my own as I continued to shoot down Chelsie.

"True," I began, earning an eyebrow raise from Kei. "There aren't a lot of opportunities, but when there are, I make sure to take them." Kei's raised eyebrow turned into a subtle smile that I saw just before she turned to hide her face.

"Well," Chelsie said not missing a bet. "If you're looking for any... opportunities here, just give me a call." Kei's face made an immediate re-appearance, only now there were daggers in her eyes.

"I don't think that will be necessary," I replied quickly, trying to prevent any kind of bloodshed.

"What," Chelsie said with a confused smile. "You find someone 'important?'" She teased the word as if the concept of a serious relationship couldn't exist.

"Very," was all I offered as I looked directly at Kei. The intensity of my gaze wasn't lost on Grimm who began to reexamine his yogurt.

"You see Kei," Chelsie began in a frustrated tone. "All the good ones are either taken or gay."

"It's a real problem," Kei said distractedly, not really paying attention anymore. She no longer seemed angry or defensive or jealous. She just kept staring at me with something in her eyes.

"So, you excited about leading the formation?" Chelsie asked Kei again. In keeping with the illusion that Kei was the flight lead, she would be, well, leading the formation for tonight.

"You bet," Kei said distractedly, still staring at me with an expression I hadn't seen before.

"Did Kid and Kei start making out yet?" Chopper yelled out from the hall. The look in Kei's eyes was gone in an instant and was replaced by a raging fire that made me feel like I was looking at the sun. As Chopper entered the door way to the break room, he realized his fatal mistake and color drained from him faster than the speed of dark. "Um..."

"Who's Kid?" Chelsie asked with a confused grin directed at Kei. "Is he hot?"

"He's-" Chopper started but was cut off by Kei.

"None of your business," she finished. "Let's finish this damn planning," she said as she stood up and left the room.

"What's got her panties in a wad?" Chelsie asked the rest of us. All men, by the way. Grimm just coughed.

When planning finally ended and Chelsie finally left, thirty minutes after, I wondered if I still had enough to do the fly-by.

"I'm whipped," Chopper said flopping down on one of the large leather couches in the room. The other one, currently occupied by Kei who looked like she was about to fall asleep, made its characteristic noise as she stood up again.

"I hear you on that," Kei said as she stood up and walked around.

"But what about this flight tonight?" I asked in mock worry. "It's both, 'An honor and privilege of a lifetime.' Wouldn't you be bummed to miss out on it?"

"Let someone else be the VP's lapdog," Grimm said with disdain uncharacteristic of him. I guess the tired grumpy mood was coming over him too.

"You guy's sound like you need a nap," I teased. The looks everyone gave me as soon as I spoke told me they didn't see it as a teasing statement and more as a legitimate suggestion.

"So, see you in an hour," Chopper said in more of a statement than a question as he closed his eyes.

"Ditto," Grimm said as he leaned back in his chair, a similar expression of serenity coming over him.

"Those two," I said as I turned to Kei. Only to find she wasn't there. I then heard a slapping sound from behind me. Turning around, I saw that Kei had once again taken a seat on the leather couch and was patting the spot next to her for me to join her. As I sat down she spoke to me.

"Tell me how important I am," she said as she took my hand and put her head on my shoulder.

"I'm afraid that's just not possible," I told her, causing her to look up at me with confusion.

"But, at the table-"

"There aren't enough words or time for me to tell you how important you are to me without doing it justice," I interrupted. Kei's concern was replaced by the same smile and gaze I had seen earlier today. I could get used to that face.

"I think you just did," she told me as she returned her head to its spot on my shoulder. Within a couple of minutes she was fast asleep. I quickly set my watch alarm for forty five minutes from the current time to give us some time to get ready for our flight.

My faith in technology was rewarded with my alarm going off forty five minutes later and waking up the rest of my flight. As we got ready to get into our F-15C's, I couldn't help but feel Kei staring at me every so often. It put a smile on my face almost as large as hers. We were up in the air not a second too soon and were on our way to where we would be doing our fly-by.

"I'm proud to be able to fly like this," Grimm said, a smile in his voice that would've put one on me if I didn't have one already.

"Everyone, form up and don't stray apart from each other. Okay Blaze?" I was still in my own land though, happy thoughts not daring to leave me. "Blaze, don't be daydreaming," Kei scolded. I shook my head and focused. She was right. This was still a mission and I needed a clear head. "Let's begin."

"This is AWACS Thunderhead," the man I now knew to be Colonel Nathan Brigham said. "It's time. Begin your ceremonial flight."

We began by climbing up to about 7500 feet. After everyone had reached altitude, we began to come back down again to about 2000 feet and then... back up. To be honest, the whole first part of the flight had been planned by Chelsie and was just to get her to stop talking. As we began our decent into the city, I couldn't help but agree with Choppers earlier assessment about flying in an urban setting. The glass windows were reflecting the blood red of the sun on one side and on the other, the checkered pattern of yellow lights against what could have been black ice. And at the altitude of 800 feet, it was adrenalin inducing. About half a mile from the stadium, the short show began.

"Knife left," Kei said curtly, initiating a quarter roll for our flight that we held for about a second before we leveled out again. "Knife right," she called out. When everyone was in position, she called out another command. "Invert." As we flew upside down over the stadium, I couldn't help but let my twelve year old self grin. I didn't join the Air Force to fool around in the sky. I joined to serve. But there is always a small part of every kid who just wants to mess around in a jet in a populated area. It's exciting. After we had finished passing over the stadium, Kei and I performed a negative G Immelmann while Grimm and Chopper scissored over the stadium.

"This marks the end of your fight. Good work Wardog," Thunderhead called out as we finished passing over the stadium again.

"You wouldn't expect any less from this group," Chopper said as we all formed up again. "We were really smooth back there." We all tuned our radios so we could hear the Vice-Presidents speech.

"People of Osea," he began with grandeur. "Please, lend an ear to this broadcast." It sounded like he was going for the ultra-patriotic message with that opening. "As your Vice-President, I stand here on behalf of the President of Osea."

"Hey," Kei said suddenly. "Where has he been anyways?"

"Listen to your fellow countrymen cheering before me," the man continued. "They are filled with anger against Yuktobania, and they swear that they will not drop their weapons until Yuktobania has surrendered. Now, I ask you to listen, listen to their cheers!" I let out a breath of disappointment. I didn't know what I had expected. Well, I guess I had hoped for a speech that would've denounced all the violence that was happening. But instead, I had just heard a speech that had promised more war until Yuktobania was in rubble.

"Aw, great, here comes the thunderous applause," Chopper said, the same tone of disappointment in his voice as would've been in mine. But something unexpected happened. A multitude of voices began singing.

"The journey begins, starts from within, things that I need to know..."

"Wait, that song..." the vice president began, noticing the tune of the unmistakably anti-war song. "Citizens, please stop this..." I snorted. What kind of leader asks his followers to stop pursuing a peaceful path?

"...Thoughts endless in flight, day turns to night..." Chopper sang, joining in with the audience I could hear even without the radio.

"That isn't exactly Rock 'n' Roll, you know," Grimm asked Chopper with a tone I could only guess was amused.

"Who cares?" Chopper said a little defensively. "Hey, they wanna get along with the enemy too, right? Man, this song's got soul!" I then heard the statement that I somehow knew would be said at the beginning of it all.

"This is Thunderhead. Approaching enemy formation confirmed. Wardog, engage them." Enemy transmissions began to come in.

"Stadium in sight. Secure the airspace until the Gorizont Squadron arrives."

"Tally ho! Enemy fighters." Grimm called out.

"Are we... the only allies here?" Kei asked nervously, and with good reason. While each of our planes had four 120's and two sidewinders, we would still be out-gunned with the sixteen aircraft that were showing up on radar.

"I'm calling for reinforcements now. It'll be five minutes before the nearest squadron arrives." Five minutes. 300 seconds. The numbers...

"Roger that," Kei called out as she reformed on my wing along with Chopper and Grimm.

"So, we're on our own until then?" Grimm asked as we began an intercept course with the closing aircraft.

"...Hey, wait a minute," Chopper said after a pause. "Whoa, they're still singing! Why aren't they evacuating the stadium? Where's the air-raid siren?" The concern in his voice was palpable and Thunderhead reacted immediately.

"Stadium personnel, stadium personnel, this is AWACS Thunderhead, does any one copy?"

"AWACS?" a new voice said after the all-frequency hail. "What the heck is this?"

"This is military Airborne Early Warning and Control Craft Thunderhead. You need to evacuate the stadium. Authorization code Gulf-Papa-83-12."

"Shit," the man cursed. "All units, begin evacuation! This isn't a drill! I repeat, this is not drill!"

"Are you saying the enemy's invaded this far inland?" Another voice asked.

"Our allied planes will deal with the unknown aircraft. Start escorting the crowd!" the other man responded.

"Evacuation has begun," Thunderhead told us just as we were about to engage the enemy.

"Well, yeah," Grimm began as he and Chopper turned off to engage a four plane formation as me and Kei turned opposite to him. "But they can't get out that fast."

"Why'd the Vice President have to assemble so many people here?" Chopper asked. "Geez, what a moron."

"Captain Davenport, shut your mouth and take out those enemies," Thunderhead shot out.

"Aye aye, Sir. Now you're talkin'." The enemy radio transmissions came back.

"Just as we were briefed, there are only four of them."

"That may be enough. These are the Razgriz after all."

"I feel like we're being sent to die as some sacrifice!" It was now time for Kei and me to engage.

"You take left, I'll take right," I told Kei as we closed in on a formation of four planes.

"Edge copies," Kei responded. I dove after the plane in front of me. Almost the entire attacking force was Su-27's which would be an equal match for our F-15's. I began closing in on the opponents' tail before they tried to initiate a scissors. I pulled back hard on the throttle and deployed my air brake, brining my nose in front of the plane in a very jerky maneuver that killed my speed. But with my cannon where I wanted it, I opened fire as the enemy plane flew through my line of lead. Not having any time to revel in my victory, I applied after-burner as my warning lights came on letting me know about an enemy pilot in my six. As I gained speed, I turned in towards the sun. After a second of the enemy plane following, I pulled sharply up and yanked my head around to see the enemy pilot still continuing in a straight line, having temporarily blinded himself. I easily maneuvered to his six and took him out in a short burst of fire.

"You doing okay, Edge?" I asked as I scanned the sky for her position.

"Yeah," just got rid of the last guy," she responded.

"How about you Chopper? How are you and Grimm holding out?"

"Just finished mopping them up," Chopper replied, slightly out of breath.

"What's the point of this mission," an enemy asked suddenly. They were one of the later waves that we would be engaging in seconds.

"Kvant six, watch yourself. Don't let your captain hear that." I then heard a transmission from one of the stadium personnel again.

"You can thank those damn warmongers for all this," he muttered. Someone next to him on the ground added,

"If you're gonna attack, attack the Vice-President. The rest of us just want peace." I was reminded for a moment of the story that Kei had told me about the Yuktobanian solider she had interrogated. If both sides wanted peace, why were we still at war?

We began our second engagement with the next two squadrons. Kei and I battle linked our fighters and launched a volley of four am-rams that all made contact and Chopper and Grimm began their own engagement.

"Bad news Wardog," Thunderhead said as Grimm finished off his last fighter.

"Is there any other kind with us?" Chopper mumbled.

"Another formation is on its way," Thunderhead finished off.

"We can't make it, there's too many of them," Grimm moaned.

"Hang in there, 2 minutes. Only w minutes until allied reinforcements arrive."

"Okay," Chopper said with a slight huff. "I'll get ready to pass the baton!" I suddenly heard a voice that sent waves of Déjà vu through me.

"Attention all units approaching November City. I guess they had us going too..."

"What? Who is this?" Thunderhead asked. That caused me to worry more than anything else. He was supposed to know everything up here in the sky. So if he didn't even know who this was...

"That was a pretty good drill they got going. Anyway, drill is over. Return to base."

"Wait! What are you talking about?!" Thunderhead asked. Static started to fill the radio as we began to engage a new flight of enemy aircraft. We had to fight down the planes as the static persisted, not being able to relent for a moment in fear of giving another inch of airspace to the enemy. Thunderhead eventually broke through yelling, "ECMM! Restore communication link!" We had just earned ourselves another reprieve when Kei decided to speak up again.

"The enemy's targeting a public rally," she said with a brooding tone. "They're singing for solidarity with the Yuktobanian's down there!" she practically shouted. "Why now?! Why are they attacking now?!"

"Wardog, more enemies on the way!" Thunderhead warned.

"Where was our defense force?!" Grimm asked, a rage in his voice I wasn't familiar with. "Forget it, preparing to engage! Captain Davenport, how much longer do you think we can hold them off?"

"Til the very end, you idiot!" the man replied harshly. "We've got to protect these people!"

"No threat of ground attack," one of the enemy planes transmitted. "All we have to deal with are the fighters."

"I thought the demons were in our homeland," another plane responded.

"Spooky," another added with a shudder in his voice.

"The allied planes aren't coming!" Grimm called out as we began engaging yet another enemy force. "What's going on?!"

"Reinforcements are on the way! Just hang in there!" I began to follow a plane that had latched onto Kei's six. When I got a solid missile tone, I announced the shot.

"Fox two!" The missile streaked into the enemy plane and I began to seek another target.

"Dammit!" Thunderhead said as I began following another Su-27. "None of the bases are responding to me!" His voice suddenly picked up hopefully. "Hello? What do you mean you don't understand? There's an air battle over the stadium!" We had just finished off the last group of fighters when Thunderhead cut in again. "New enemy formation detected. It's a flight of enemy stealth fighters!"

"Wardog, engage the stealth fighters!" I called out. Our radars were being fed a direct link from Thunderhead to give us a better position of the stealth aircraft. We had just started to engage when my headset began to increase in static noise. It eventually built until it was the only thing I could hear and suddenly it stopped. Just like that time-

"Herr Caden 'Blaze' Irving." My face, fingers, toes, everything went cold and white. My eyes began to search for the female Belken pilot. Anything would set me off, even the faintest glimmer.

"Wardog?" I tried. My relief when I got a response was almost enough to make me feel back to normal.

"Blaze, who is that?" Kei asked.

"She sound's Belken," Grimm observed.

"You would know, wouldn't you, blood traitor," the woman responded.

"Hey!" Chopper yelled out. "Who is this?"

"Ah, the bumbling fool has made himself known," the pilot said coldly. I knew what she was doing.

"Wardog, continue to engage the stealth fighters. We need to keep this stadium safe."

"Yes, keep the citizens safe from the warmongering Yuktobanian's," the woman emphasized. She began again in a tone that sounded like she was asking a question. "Is it not strange that whenever you come so close to peace, something bad happens? It is almost like there are people who are in your governments that are causing these things to happen."

"Wait," Chopper began, a picking up on what we were catching on to.

"Ops," the Belken pilot said. "I am afraid I have said too much." No sooner had she finished her sentence when a bright beam or red light suddenly came out of nowhere. Almost as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.

"Damn!" Chopper yelled out. I glanced around for his plane and found it... by following a trail of dark smoke.

"Are you all right?!" Grimm asked, flying closer to the plane to do an inspection. "You've been hit."

"Ahh, it's nothing big," Chopper began. "I'm not wounded. I oughta be able to keep this plane in the air a little longer. Besides, planes are expendable, Right Kid?"

"Sure, planes are expendable," I told the man whose plane was wavering a little. "But the people in them aren't. Don't push anything Chopper."

"That's it Kid," Chopper said with a slight chuckle. "That's the kind of line I expect from a captain."

"Glad to finally get it right," I told him. "Alright, keep a look out for that... whatever that was and let's take out these stealth's." Once we had taken out the last stealth Thunderhead spoke up.

"Area is clear for now."

"Chopper, can you bail out?" Kei asked concern and worry lacing her words.

"Well, that's kinda difficult right now." Thunderhead came in again, speaking to the aircraft he was trying to bring into the area.

"All airborne aircraft, do not return to base! November City is still under attack! This is not a drill. Repeat..."

"There's nothing but houses down below. I can't leave this plane yet." Chopper told us. "Kid, you see any place where I can drop this plane?" I just wanted to tell him to screw the houses and bail, but I knew neither of us would be able to live with that kind of call.

"The stadium, Chopper. Can you hear me? Drop it into the center of the stadium and bail out. Do you understand?"

"Roger. Good idea... gives me some hope that I just might make it. I'd better wait for the crowd to evacuate some more though." I wanted to yell at him to do it now, but again, I knew he wouldn't be able to live with even the possibility of killing an innocent. I then heard a transmission that curdled my blood.

"Look, one of the Razgriz planes is trailing smoke."

"Wardog," Thunderhead called out. "Another formation of stealth fighters on radar."

"Copy. Chopper, just take it easy man. You need to hang in there until the stadium is ready."

"Roger that Kid. Dammit, my cockpit's emergency alarm won't shut up." The enemies voice began to motivate me some more.

"Aim for that plane! Now is our chance to take out the demon!"

"Don't let him get away! We'll get a medal for bagging this one."

"Chopper, I'll cover you," Kei said, hearing the same chatter I was and becoming worried.

"Take down the enemy first!" he told her sternly. "Dammit, I'm losing thrust. Grimm, you take that enemy."

"Alright," Grimm responded almost immediately. "Just keep flying!"

"Just a little more," one of the enemies called out as we got closer to the engagement threshold. "Do it for all your fallen comrades."

"I'll finish him off. Kvant four, cover me."

"Edge, Archer, make sure your battle link is engaged. We'll launch a volley at these guys." A few seconds later, we launched a volley of eight missiles, emptying all three of us of our special ammo. The move proved to be a wise one, however, as all missiles save one made impact. The final plane was just pelted with debris that the engines of the plane couldn't help but suck up.

"Captain Davenport, report on the status of your plane," Thunderhead requested.

"My instrument panel's red as a rose garden," he responded, the faintest of chuckles in his voice. "Kind of pretty actually."

"We've called back the allied fighters," Thunderhead told us.

"A little too late, man. There goes the radar. My circuits are toast." A pit was starting to form deep inside me while a lump was starting to grow at the back of my throat.

"Look, forget about it Chopper, just bail out. Please, bail out!" There was such a pleading tone in Kei's voice, Chopper really didn't have a choice.

"Okay, guess now's the time," he said as he began to pull off towards the stadium.

"This is Thunderhead. Captain Davenport, are you all right?"

"Just peachy," Chopper responded morosely. "There's the stadium. I'm dropping the plane over there." Then I realized what was happening. He was just saying words now. He was just placating us. He had tried long ago to bail out. He and I already knew what was happening. Kei didn't.

"Roger. Now bail out."

"... I can't." Silence. I could only here the rumble of the jet, the static between transmissions, the faint shallow breaths that I could just only manage. "The electrical systems are all messed up. The canopy won't blow. The ejection seat's probably not working either."

"Don't give up Chopper!" Thunderhead called out, pure desperation in his voice. "Keep trying! Chopper!" Silence.

"Heh... I'm going to miss that voice." The smoke trail told us where he was going. The explosion told us when it happened. The silence afterwards... that told us all what it meant. I sat in my seat for what seemed like eons. Nothing happened. A crackle on the radio told me someone was about to speak again so I steeled myself.

"... Dammit," was all that Thunderhead offered. "I hate to say this now, but there's a second enemy wave approaching." The next sentence was just the echo of a command that used to be issued by a powerful man. "All units, engage." I was empty. There was no emotion in me, it had been stripped out. How was I supposed to fight anyone? That question quickly answered itself.

"These guys are no demons! We can take them!"

"All right engage the remaining enemy fighters."

I was no longer empty.

"URRRGH!" I heard Grimm give a primal grunt as his after-burning plane shot past me and Kei. After giving a similar war cry, I throttled forward as well.

"What' going on?" an enemy in front of us asked, a tinge of concern in his voice. I was still after-burning when I began to apply full flaps and air brake. My speed plummeted and I was hurled forward, but it didn't matter. I swung into a position behind the plane and removed all the breaking effects of my flight surfaces to gain speed again. "They're maneuvering even better than before!" My gun was trained and in less than a second of the reticule landing on the plane in front of me, it was a burning wreck. I noticed that two other burning piles were falling out of the sky as well. My addition of a fourth wouldn't be noticed.

"So, this is what those demons are really like!" a frightened pilot called out. "This is the true power of the Razgriz?!" I would learn later that it only took a minute and forty five seconds for the three of us to clear the sky of ten enemy aircraft. But during the time, it just might have well been all of eternity.

"Wardog, thanks for holding out for us. The reinforcements are here. Enemy planes are retreating." There was a single sniffle over the channel from someone. From everyone. "We just got word from the ground. Except for a few injuries in the confusion following the evacuation there were no civilian casualties in the stadium." Great. That's just... awesome. "He..." Thunderhead paused and tried again. "He was a model fighter pilot to the end." The reinforcement planes finally showed up. I needed to punch something. "Join me in saluting Captain Davenport!" The man in the AWACS plane was doing everything he could to sound composed. I just couldn't I shut off my radio and removed my headset. I then bowed my head and cried for a friend lost.


	27. -Revelation-

**Revelation**

We didn't return to the Davenport's residence that night. Once we landed, we were gingerly led to a debriefing room. We got sympathetic glances left and right, but I wasn't paying any mind to them. No amount of sympathy was going to bring him back. Nothing was going to bring him back...

We waited in the room for half an hour. I don't know whether it was in an effort for us to cool down or what, but if it was, it didn't work. We just wanted to be somewhere else and waiting around in a room wasn't somewhere else. When we were finally met with, the message we were conveyed couldn't have been more... scripted. The person who was conveying the message only looked at us with broken eyes as they recited what they had been told to tell us.

"Vice President Appelrouth escaped from the stadium in his personal vehicle. Despite the late arrival of reinforcements, civilian casualties were kept to a bare minimum. The Yuktobanian fighters' ingress route is currently under investigation. Captain Alvin H. Davenport, who lost his life in the battle, is no longer with the team. He has been granted a posthumous two-rank promotion." Not wanting to stick around, we all left soon after that and went to our assigned rooms.

I wanted nothing more than a deep sleep. But it wouldn't come. I tried several times but the only thing I could manage was twelve minutes of fussing around with sheets. Finally, I gave up on the futile task and grabbed some paper and a pen. I needed to write out a letter to Raenay, as much as it would kill me to do it. I used all the paper I had trying to start, but I was never satisfied. I was down to my last sheet and wasn't going to go get more. This one would count.

_Raenay,_

_Words cannot express the torment I am going through trying to write this. But I need to tell you, I need to try. It's the least I can do. I don't know how much I'm allowed to tell you but frankly, I don't care. You deserve the truth. First of all, you should know that your husband tried until the end to make it back to you. In that attempt, he made sure that his actions wouldn't threaten the safety of anyone on the ground. He died protecting the greatest number of people he could. I know this doesn't make your pain any smaller, but I thought you should know that even in the end, Alvin was selfless._

_I didn't know Alvin for long, but in the three months that I was blessed with his company, he made me feel like I had family again. His unyielding personality got us as a flight through many tough battles and situations. Alvin was probably the most vocal member of Wardog, yet his actions always spoke louder than any words he muttered. With his passing, our flight has lost a considerable amount of its light._

_I hope that this letter can help you see a side of a man you may not have been as familiar with. That it can give you even the smallest amount of solstice. Know that your family is in my thoughts._

_Sincerest regards,_

_Caden Irving_

We were flown out to Sand Island the next day on the first of December. December. Already three months since joining a squadron and so much had happened. Maybe too much. I needed something to do. Staying idle let me think too much and I didn't want to think. I didn't want to feel. I quickly changed into some athletic gear and exited the building I had been staying in since the onset of this war. Even in December, the current temperature outside was as balmy as it had been when I first got here. I got to the white sand beach and slipped off my shoes and socks letting the warm sand push between my toes. I looked at my feet, procrastinating my run. Why did I come out here again? Everything seemed to be on auto-pilot and I didn't like it; action and reaction. I needed to take control of something. I looked up and spotted another island formation across the shallow water. It was something of a mountain although it may not have been tall enough to be classified as one scientifically. But in the middle of this flat ocean, a mound of dirt was a land mark. On impulse, I decided that I would be climbing the mound of dirt in front of me.

I began walking into the water not caring about if I was wearing appropriate gear or not. I just began walking out deeper and deeper until I had to swim. And then I swam. I crossed the water between the airbase and whatever island was across from us. About half an hour later of swimming and I was gasping on the shore of the new island. I began walking up the beach, cursing as my foot was suddenly poked by a stick. I had left my shoes back at the base I realized as I looked back at where I had come from. But in that moment, for a fleeting moment, I felt like I had left my problems behind. I didn't want to go back to them so I pushed on without my foot wear.

It didn't take long for me to regret my decision, but in my stubbornness, I continued. The ground was relatively moist, making my feet sink in half an inch in the dark topsoil before I moved them again. When I reached the top of the dirt mound I rested my cut up feet on a rock and looked around. It was only 1500, but the sun was beginning to hide behind a thunderstorm that was coming in from the west. I sighed deeply. What was supposed to happen now?

There had been a whole memorial the day after the event. But it had made me sick. It was held, once again, at the wretched stadium. They hadn't even finished cleaning up the wreckage but the Vice-President had insisted. The whole speech he gave was unmistakably pro-war. He blamed 'those dirty Yukes' for everything bad that could ever happen. It was distasteful, almost to the point of me walking out. Of course that was a little hard as he had me and my two remaining wing-mates on stage with him. He constantly made people look at Choppers wreaked F-15, a horrible reminder of what had happened not even a day ago. I saw Kei struggling to keep her bearing multiple times and I knew I had troubles of keeping my own as I wanted to reach out and embrace her.

Grimm had gone all robot on us. He had zoned out and I was beginning to wonder if we hadn't lost him. It was only later that evening when I heard him crying off on his own that I knew some part of him was still with us. The Vice-President had asked me, on the spot to say something about Chopper. I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to stir up more hatred. To make the citizens of Osea want nothing less than for us to kill every last Yuktobanian solider. So I gave them something else. I gave a quick glance at Kei, the slightest nod coming from her, telling me that she would agree with whatever I was about to say.

"Most of you," I began, taking a moment to inhale deeply and collect my delicate thoughts. "Most of you will only know the man who died yesterday as Alvin Davenport." I took another pause, thinking about how I would remember him. As friend? A confidant? A wing-mate? "But I will remember him as Chopper." I took a long look at the wreckage, a long, hard, distasteful look. "You see, Chopper may just be a name that Alvin used, but to me," I looked behind me and swept my hand at Kei and Grimm, "to us, it was much more. Chopper was a man who looked out for everyone all the time. Someone who wasn't distracted by success, whatever small amount of it that ever came his way." I managed a meager smile as I remembered the man's wit. "A friend who would let you know how it really was even if it was with his own little spin." I saw the Vice-President start to nod and come towards me, as if I had completed my reminiscing, but I still had one very important point to make.

"Chopper was a man who didn't want this war." The silence and tension was palpable. Nothing moved, no one spoke. There was just the slight whistle of the wind through the large stadium.

"Like so many others on both sides of this conflict, he didn't understand why we were sending people to die. All he wanted was peace. Peace, so he could be with his family. Peace, so he could stop worrying about his friends. Peace, so he could get back to..." I choked up momentarily, trying to put on a joking smile but failing. "Peace so he could get back to grilling and listening to his Rock n' Roll turned up too loud." I paused again and cleared my throat. "I will remember Chopper. A man who loved so many, enough to die for them in a pointless war." I took one final look at the pile of metal in the middle of the football field before I took my place again with my wing-mates.

The Vice-President was slack jawed and frozen. His whole speech had the rug taken out from under it. When he finally did take the podium, what he managed to say made my blood curdle.

"Let us take a moment to remember Alvin Davenport. A proud Osean who never stopped protecting us from our enemies." The only thing that prevented me from marching up to than man and giving him twelve pieces of my mind was the nearly unanimous discontented groan from the audience. Under normal circumstances, I would've considered it an affront to the memory of Chopper. But something about it made me think he would've liked it.

A distant strike of lightning and its corresponding clap of thunder brought me back from my memories of November City. I looked back over at Sand Island. I didn't want to go back there. Not now, at least. I looked down the other side of the small mountain I had climbed and noticed that there was a small sort of town. There were a couple of houses, a small commercial airstrip and water tower and not much else. I decided to check it out and get off the tallest thing in the area before the storm came in.

By the time I reached the bottom of the hill, my feet hated me. The paved walkways were a nice reprieve for my abused appendages but it was still rough. There wasn't much in the settlement so I was quickly drawn into what seemed to be the only convenience store. When I entered the building, I was almost immediately greeted by an older man who was in his late seventies.

"Welcome to Greg's Convenience, how can I help ya' today?" I looked at the man who had on an old Osean War veterans cap covering his balding head that had remnants of wispy white hair. His face had a permanent smile on it and his eyes, while drooping with age, still seemed to have a youthful spark behind them.

"You wouldn't happen to have any socks or shoes, would you?" I asked hopefully.

"Socks and shoes," the man repeated looking up thoughtfully. "I believe I've got those. Got to have just 'bout everything when yer' the only store on an island!" he said with a chuckle in his voice as he began to walk down the aisle. "Unfortunately, that don't mean you got to have variety. I hope these will fit," he said turning back to me. He then squinted at me with a critical eye. "Say, you look pretty familiar. Was you the young feller' on the TV back a couple days ago? The one who gave that speech?" I must've done something because the next moment the man was apologizing like it was going out of style. "Never mind, sorry I asked."

"No, it's alright," I told him as I reached down for a package of socks and one of the three pairs of shoes that were available. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was me you saw," I replied.

"Shame about that spotty coverage," he said as he walked back towards the counter. "That whole program was interrupted twice by technical difficulties. Once durin your talking bit and again almost right after that Vice-President man asked for a moment for ya' friend. Damn shame, seemed like those was good parts too." My jaw nearly dropped. The chances for one technical difficulty during such a high profile event were extremely small. The odds of it happening twice...

"They censored it?" I asked aloud.

"They did what now?" the man asked perplexed.

"The part where I was... 'Interrupted,' by technical difficulties, I was talking about how my wing-mate wouldn't want this stupid war. The second interruption was when the Vice-President was nearly booed off the stage for his insensitivity," I said as diplomatically as I could.

"No shit," the old man said with a wide open mouth as he rubbed his chin. I couldn't even begin to grasp what was going on. Was the government censoring things now? Had they always? How long had it been going on?

"I've got to tell Kei," I muttered aloud as I began to search myself for a means to pay the man.

"Don't worry about the shoes, son," the man said holding out a hand and pushing the products over to me. "By the looks of it, you need these more than I need the money for them," he said with a slight grin as he looked over the counter at my fee. "You just be sure to get this whole thing figured out. Sounds like you've got some big government stuff going on and let me tell you, I know how dangerous and confusing things can be with them," he said pointing to his cap.

"Thanks..." I said holding out my hand towards the man and grabbing the shoes and socks with my other hand.

"Avery. Avery Dennison," the man said as he shook my hand.

"Thanks Avery. I'll be sure to get you back for these," I told him as I rushed out the door. I had to tell Kei and Grimm. Something was going on. Something big. But first, I had to get back to Sand Island. And fast. The thunderstorm coming in was going to be on us in less than an hour and I needed to cross the water before then. I didn't want to be swimming in a lighting storm. I ran around the island, not wanting to climb up and over the small mountain again.

I wasn't as fast as I had been the first time crossing the water. I was about half way across when the rain started coming down. I was about fifty yards from shore when I saw Kei waiting on the shore next to my shoes with a plastic poncho covering her.

"CADEN?!" she yelled out, but over the din of the thunderstorm, it came out to me as little more than muffled noise.

"KEI!" I yelled back. I just began to feel the bottom of the water and began to trudge towards her, my waterlogged shoe feeling clunky in the water.

"CADEN? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING! YOU DON'T SWIM IN A LIGHTING STORM!" she yelled out to me. Even from this distance, I could see the worry in her face.

"KEI, THE SPEECH, THEY-" and then I felt like I was burned. Everywhere. The pain was so fast and instant, it was the last thing I remembered.

Air. I needed the air. My vision was suddenly filled with bright light as I opened my eyes and found myself staring into a bright light. I inhaled deeply to fill my lungs with oxygen. I felt multiple sets of hands on me, supporting me.

"He's up," a voice said to my right.

"Caden, this is Doctor Hughes. Can you tell me what day it is?" another voice said to my left. I looked at where it had come from, squinting at the bright lights.

"The first?" I asked unsure. "The first of December?" I clarified. I could make out the man turning around and asking someone behind him a question.

"Was that the last day he was conscious?" After a brief pause the man turned back to me. "Caden, you were struck by lightning. Luckily, it wasn't a direct hit but you still took some damage. Try not to strain yourself, okay? You've been out for two days. Today's the Third. We're going to ask you some questions, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I replied still wincing at the bright light. "You mind turning that off?" I asked, pointing at the light.

"Phil, mind getting the light?" Dr. Hughes asked. The man to my right promptly went to turn off a switch on the wall, reliving my eyes from the second sun. "Caden," the doctor began again looking at me. "Can you tell me where you last were?" I tried to think back. I remembered the sand and water.

"Was I on a beach?" I asked more than told.

"Yes, you were close to a beach. Can you remember much else?" he asked hopefully.

"Kei, she was there. Is she okay?"

"Yes, Captain Nagase is fine. If it hadn't been for her quick acting, you might not be here at all," the man said in a grim tone. I became that more appreciative of the woman I was growing closer to.

"I had been swimming back from the island across from us," I recounted. "I don't remember why I had gone there though," I confessed. There had been something important I had learned there but I couldn't remember what. I put my hand to my face to rub the sleep from my eyes when I froze and looked at my hand. It was covered in angry red marks that looked like some kind of branching fern. I gazed at it perplexed and realized that it traveled up my arm, to my torso... the markings were everywhere.

"Don't worry about the burns," the doctor told me with a hint of amusement. "You're lucky that they're the only injury you seem to have sustained. Most people do survive lighting strikes, but few walk away unharmed. Well, maybe not walk away..." he trailed off looking at me in thought. "Well, you get the idea. They should go away in a couple more days. If you don't mind, I've only got a few more questions for you."

"Yeah, sure," I said distractedly. While they were still tender and hurt to be touched, the marks covering my body were cool to me in a painful sort of way.

"Is there any lingering pain at the back of your head, eyes or throat?" the doctor asked while he looked down at a clip board most likely reading off symptoms.

"No," I replied. "Besides these burns, I feel pretty good actually."

"That just leaves me with my last question," Hughes said. He didn't sound too anxious to ask whatever it was.

"What's the last question?" I asked, somewhat curious as to what it could be.

"Do you remember what happened on November 29th?" Any curiosity I had moments ago was replaced by sorrow and sadness. "That's all I needed," the man said as he signed off on a piece of paper. "You're cleared to leave, but take it easy. You were struck by lightning after all. Just take a couple of days to rest. I know it won't be easy, but you need to if you're going to recover properly."

"Alight," I told the man distractedly. "I'll try." The man just gave me an unbelieving stink eye and gestured towards a bag with some clothes in it.

"You can get changed and then get to bed. Get that rest." With their part done, both the doctor and his assistant left. I quickly got changed and headed out the door, still glancing at my hand to view my new 'tattoo.' I had made it no more than twenty feet when I was stopped by an angry woman.

"What the hell?" Kei asked me as she blockaded my path. I was confused for a moment before I realized what had set her off. If she had thought my 'suicidal flying' was bad...

"Kei, I-"

"Losing Chopper was hard enough on me, now you're off trying to kill yourself?" she asked me, her anger barely holding out over her tears. "Caden, what were you thinking?" she asked pleadingly in a strained voice.

"I just needed to get away from here," I told her softly, wanting to reach out and comfort her, but unsure if it was the right move at this juncture.

"You could've at least told me!" she silently screamed, her hoarse throat only adding to her emotion. "Do you think you're the only one who's been feeling hurt?"

"No, I-"

"You weren't thinking," she finished for me. "You weren't thinking about us." She took a ragged breath and hugged me deeply, surprising me at her turn around. "I know we're still both getting used to this, but we've got to be there for each other. I hate the thought of loosing you."

"Same here," I replied as I wrapped my arms around her. We would've most likely stayed like that for an hour if it hadn't been for someone clearing their throat from down the hall. Someone being Major Hamilton.

"I'm sure this is just an act of mutual support during a hard and trying time for the both of you. Or maybe Captain Irving here was having a bout of dizziness from the lighting strike he received. Either way, I'm sure it was one hundred percent platonic." Kei and I couldn't have flung apart more quickly.

"Good afternoon, sir" I stuttered out as I faced the man. Kei had a similar facing movement as the man approached us with an unreadable face.

"At ease Captain Irving. I was informed to tell you that there will be a mission briefing today in about an hour. You'll be heading out to Yuktobania soon to help out with the final push to Cinigrad. They may need your assistance at Cruik fortress but it's too soon to tell right now. I know it will be hard with your recent loss, but, as I think I've just seen, you have plenty of support to get through it. Try not to make the Colonel unhappy with tardiness." With that, the man meandered off without another word. Kei and I just stood there for another minute, unsure if what had happened had really happened.

"How about some food?" I suggested after I felt sufficient awkwardness had been achieved.

"Food sounds good," Kei replied as she shook herself out of a stupor and began to walk towards the mess hall.

"Yeah," I replied, falling in behind her. "I thought so too."

Kei and I had been waiting in the briefing room for fifteen minutes when Grimm showed up. We then proceeded to wait an extra ten minutes for the Colonel to show up. We quickly found out this wasn't a typical briefing.

"As of right now," The Colonel began looking uninterestedly at a file in his hands. "We don't have enough information to give you about your possible mission at Cruik Fortress. Instead, today you will be introduced to the newest additions to Wardog flight, your CSO's. They should be in by 1500 today, about thirty minutes from now. You've already been assigned to a CSO, however, if there is an extreme issue of non-compatibility, changes may be made. Now, I want all of you to be at your best when they arrive. If nothing else, we must at least pretend this is a professional and capable squadron. You're dismissed." Without waiting for a call to attention, the Colonel left the room. I glanced at Major Hamilton who had been watching Kei and me with an attentive eye. Catching my look he spoke up.

"High command felt that this squadron needed some reinforcement in the man-power area." Then he seemed to think something over in his head before correcting himself. "Or maybe I should say woman-power. Either way, you'll be getting more people." I suddenly heard a rumbling overhead that could only be explained as the rumble of jet engines. "How about you go and great the new people," he said with a slight grin. We rushed out of the building and stood near the wide open paved space, looking up at the sky to try and identify the aircraft coming in.

"F-14A," Kei said once she spotted one of the three aircraft. I looked at the planes coming in and had to disagree.

"Nah, they're definitely F-15E's."

"What?" she replied looking at me and then back at the sky. "How can you tell?"

"How can you tell their F-14A's?" I shot back playfully, glad to have some sort of distraction. I continued, not waiting for a response. "The wings are too stubby and wide for an F-14," I told her in my all knowing tone. "That and they're not long enough," I continued, earning me a solid punch to the side reminding me of how sore I was.

"Okay Mr. Smart Ass," Kei told me as she continued to watch the planes. Once they had landed and were being brought into their hangars, Kei and I went off towards where two of the three had parked while Grimm went off towards the last one. As we got inside one of the hangars, Pop's was helping a lone pilot out of one of the aircraft.

"There be a reason I signed on for being a CSO," the pilot said as she reached the ground. Her thick Wielvakian accent quickly gave away where she had lived for most of her life. Another pilot from the craft beside hers got to the ground in one fluid jump. She was considerably taller than the other woman who had been helped by Pop's, maybe even as tall as me.

"Oh, come on, Sylvia," the other woman said, her own accent reminding me of someone from the Nordlands. "Personally, I enjoy flying every once in a while."

"Yeah, well, with the stories I've been hearin' 'bout our pilots, this may be the last time in a great long while you'll be flying yerself around." The WSO took off her helmet to let her long frizzy red hair come down. Her skin was pale and dotted with faint brown freckles. She finally turned around and showed Kei and me her bright green eyes that widened with surprise. "Gah!" she shouted in fright. She would've fallen over if it hadn't been for Pop's keeping her balanced. Once she was sure of her footing, she pulled a hand up to her forehead and quickly sputtered out, "First Lieutenant Sylvia 'Valkyrie' Solburg, sir!" Kei and I couldn't have timed our glances at each other in more perfect unison. Our slight laughter that followed was just as equally in sync.

"Way to look like a greenie," her fellow CSO said whispered, removing her own helmet. She had light, blond hair that was up in a flattened bun that had fit in the tight space of her helmet. Her blue eyes stood out like two lone islands of color on her otherwise very pale face. "Petra 'Pixy' Abels, sir," she said calmly and collectedly, not bothering to pull a nervous salute.

"There's no need to salute First Lieutenant Solburg. We're indoors and I'm not really about that anyways." Sylvia nervously dropped her and went to fiddling with her helmet.

"Sorry sir," she said quickly, casting embarrassed glances at Kei and I.

"It's okay, and you can drop the 'sir' thing too. Both Pop's and I agree that it just gets annoying after a while." The sly old man cast me a smile and went to tinkering with the new planes.

"So," Petra began raising an eye brow at me. "If we can't call you sir, what should we call you?"

"You can call him Blaze," Kei shot off quickly stepping forward a bit. I scrunched my eye brows in slight confusion at Kei's aggression and cleared my throat.

"Or, you know, Captain works. I also go by Caden. Take your pick." Kei glanced back at me ever so slightly before she cleared her own throat and stepped back in line with me.

"Yes, those work too," she echoed. The hangar was silent for a moment before Pop's whistled.

"Let's go see who Grimm's met up with," I suggested.

"Yes, let's go do that," Petra added, her voice encouragement to get moving out of the area.

"Right let's- wait, did you say Grimm?" Sylvia asked as we began to walk out of the hangar. I nodded my head as our party all got outside. "Is that a common name in Osea?"

"Wouldn't know, I'm from North Point myself," I told the stout woman.

"Ah, another cold blooded being!" Petra said excitedly, obviously glad to have something in common with a fellow flight member.

"And I'm originally from Ustio," Kei interjected quickly. "Which is also pretty... northern... so..."

"Yes," Petra said, putting a smile on to mask her confusion. "That's pretty northern too."

"Um, sorry, but could we get back to this Grimm fellow," Sylvia said, offering another reprieve from another awkward situation.

"Right, well, to continue this hodge-podge of nationalities, Grimm is from Belka," I told the woman.

"No bloody way," the woman said looking around for the hangar the other F-15 had pulled into. "His first name is Hans, right? Hans Grimm?"

"How did you-?"

"Sylvia?" Grimm asked as he came walking into sight with a man who looked to be in his early forties. There was something that looked familiar about him but I couldn't make it out completely.

"Hans?" Sylvia asked, spinning around to look at Grimm who seemed to have lost all color in his face, matching her complexion quite nicely.

"Kei? Kei Nagase?" the man who had been walking with Grimm asked. He had frozen to the spot and hadn't moved since he set eyes on her.

"Do I, do I know you?" Kei asked skeptically as everyone turned their attention to the two people.

"Nah, you probably wouldn't remember," the man said with a slight smirk. "You were only, what? Eight, seven?" Suddenly, Kei seemed to remember something because her face went white as a sheet.

"Uncle Foulke?"


	28. -Confirmation Bias-

**Confirmation Bias**

It was like a six way standoff you always saw in the Erusan westerns. No one knew where to look and everyone was on... edge. I cautiously stole a glance at Kei to see her still giving a confused stare at the man she had addressed as uncle.

"What's going on?" Petra asked in very quiet, venturing voice.

"I'm not quite sure," I whispered back, keeping my eyes on the two unknowns.

"What are you doing here?" Kei asked after another moment of silence. "Last I heard from you, you were still off in Usea being a freedom fighter," Kei said somewhat accusingly. The man she was addressing raised his hands as if in defense and chuckled slightly, either not catching on to Kei's distaste or ignoring it.

"I learned what I needed to and got away from that place," he said in a smooth, nonchalant voice. "I needed to get back into the sky, but I didn't trust myself enough to take the reins of a plane so..." He lifted his hands from his sides and dropped them. "Here I am."

"Here you are," Kei echoed lightly, no emotions playing across her face to tell me what she was feeling or thinking.

"You gonna' introduce me to all your friends or we just gonna 'continue to make it awkward for them?" he asked after a couple more moments of them facing off. Kei seemed to break out of whatever trance she had been in and looked back at us, as if realizing for the first time we existed.

"Right," she began bashfully. "Captain Irving," she began professionally, making me cringe slightly at the formality she was forcing. There was a look in her eye that told me she wanted me to continue the charade for now, at least. Why she wanted to hide our less-than-formal relationship from someone she called uncle was beyond me but I decided to play along for my own well being. "This is Larry Foulke, he," she looked back at him before looking back at me. "He was a close family friend." Was?

I walked forward to shake the man's hand. It seemed that Kei didn't have the best relationship with him at the moment but being flight lead meant I was friends with everyone. Or at least friendly. As I shook his hand, he gave me a surprisingly white smile.

"First Lieutenant Larry 'Lancer' Foulke," he said, a pained sort of expression crossing his face for a fleeting moment as he told me his call-sign, only to be covered back up by a forced grin.

"Lancer. How'd you-" I began to ask, looking to see if I could get an explanation before the man interrupted me.

"It's a long story," he man said, his grin faltering for a moment. "One I think we can delve into over a meal," he said in a suggestive tone. I simply nodded, unsure of what to think of the man. Once we released hands, I swore I heard everyone behind us release some sort of collective breath. We began to head towards the main building for some dinner. I was leading the group of people with Grimm, Sylvia and Kei in one group and Larry hanging behind them. I began to wonder where Petra had gone when she popped up next to me.

"We call him Big L," she began abruptly.

"Where did- what?"

"Larry," she said plainly as if we had been in an hour long conversation. "We call him Big L over the radio. It drives him nuts so we do it," she said with a large grin.

"What's the deal with that anyways? He seemed... touchy," I asked her, hoping for a little background on the man before we got elbows deep with each other. Petra took a glance back at the man who was looking everywhere but nowhere.

"It's probably best he tells you himself. It's a kind of personal thing," she said as she brought her gaze forward again. We had taken no more than four steps when she started talking again. "So North Point, huh?"

"Yeah," I said with a smile. I was glad that the new members of the flight, save one, seemed to be melding with us pretty normally. Actually... I glanced back at Grimm and Sylvia who were giving each other strange glances between their curt conversations. Kei had her hands shoved in her pockets and was looking at something to distract herself from whatever mood she was in.

"I bet you miss the caribou hunting," she said as if it were the next logical topic. I gave her an unbelieving stare.

"How did-"

"Well," she began with a smile. I now noticed in this close proximity that she too had very faint freckles on her face. "It was a shot in the dark as to if you've ever been," she told me, using her hands to an equal extent as her mouth to try and convey her message. "But I knew that if you had been, you were probably missing it like... well... like missing caribou hunting." I couldn't help but laugh at her way of communicating as well as her accuracy at my longing for a good hunt.

"It has been a while," I began wistfully, thinking back to the last time I had gone.

"Been a while since what?" Kei asked as she joined me and Petra, obviously tired of being on her own with her mood.

"A good caribou hunt," me and Petra said almost simultaneously. We quickly faced each other with child like excitement over such a trivial occurrence, grinning at each other like we had just won some award. Kei on the other hand had no happiness on her face. In fact it was quite stoic. I got the sense she wanted to do something, but she always kept glancing over her shoulder and when she saw Larry, she just gave a frustrated sigh.

For the first time in days, our table felt full again. The painful reminder of Chopper that had been an empty chair was now filled three times over. I chose to sit at the end of a table with my plate of food waiting for the rest of my flight. It wasn't long before Petra showed up and sat across from me eager to continue the good conversation we had been having on our way inside about who had the most snow days growing up. Grimm sat on my side as Sylvia elected to sit across from him. Larry continued the trend of a 'new comers' side and sat beside Sylvia leaving a seat for Kei beside Grimm. A seat that Kei seemed very dissatisfied with.

Petra and I had finished our meals long ago but were still sitting at the table. Grimm and Sylvia had left at uncannily close intervals and Kei had left only ten minutes after she had been seated, beating Grimm and Sylvia by another whole ten minutes. Petra and I had just finished getting over a joke we had made about tourists who always packed to light when she glanced to her side and saw Larry waiting patiently to speak to me.

"Well," she began, putting her hands on the table in finality. "It was great getting to know you," Petra said, giving me another one of her giant grins.

"Same here," I told her, still smiling from our joke.

"But as much fun as it was speaking to you, I think I'd better let Big L get some talking in." She stood up and grabbed her dishes. "I'm looking forward to working with your flight."

"Same here," I told her as she nodded and walked off. Once she had left the room, Larry slid over to her spot.

"You two certainly hit it off," he said with a smile.

"Yeah," I said a little distantly.

"Kei looked a bit miffed about it though," continued.

"Yeah," I said a little more thoughtfully, pulling myself out of my thinking about how great my socializing with Petra had been and remembering Kei's sour mood after Petra had landed. "What was up with that?" I asked myself more than Larry.

"She could be a little jealous that her boyfriend had a good time with another woman," Larry said out of the blue, his knowing grin never leaving his face. I stared at him in shock. "Or maybe it's me, what do I know?"

"How-?"

"Did I tell you I knew Kei a while back?" he interrupted.

"No," I said after a moment. "In fact, you haven't told me anything about yourself."

"Well, you were a little... occupied." I turned red though I wasn't sure why. I hadn't done anything wrong, I was just having good conversation with another one of my other wing-mates. "No matter, you're free now."

"Right," I consented, already wanting this conversation to be over. "So, how did you get the name Lancer?"

"It all starts about fifteen years ago," the man said, cutting right to the chase. "I don't know how much Kei has shared with you-"

"I know her father is Cipher," I told the man.

"Is that all you know?" he asked after a significant pause. I was suddenly unsure about how well I knew Kei. And how much I should trust whatever I was told next. "Okay, well, I'll try to prevent from spilling too many secrets; there are probably some things she hasn't told you with good reason." My arched eyebrow only got arch-ier. "So, you know that Cipher was Kei's dad who was also called the Demon of the Round Table." I nodded to show that this was common knowledge to me. "Well, I was his wing-mate."

Questions flooded my conscious mind after a half second delay. Records were always sketchy about 'The Demons' wing-mate near the end of the war. Some say he never left, some say he left and was replaced, some people even believed that he had turned to an extremist group and tried to kill his former partner. That one always seemed a little extreme to me. But all these deeper questions were somehow pushed aside by the simpler one that escaped my mouth.

"Weren't you called 'Pixy' back then?" Larry raised his thick eyebrows, clearly just as surprised as I was at my first question.

"Um..." he began, trying to switch gears from where he had thought the conversation was going to go to where it actually was. "Well, yeah, that was my call-sign. But after my last battle with that name, I didn't want anything to do with it. Besides, Petra's already got that name and to be honest, it's a little more suiting for her to have it than me." I nodded, agreeing with him that a fighter pilot as deadly and, for lack of a better word, manly, as Larry didn't deserve a name that conveyed an image of a speck of light.

"What was so bad about your final battle with that name?" I asked unsure. Officially, Galm's last flight had been over Avalon Dam and had ended in the successful destruction of a V-2 multiple nuclear warhead missile. If I had won a battle like that, I would be keeping whatever name I had been called.

"Here come the questions I was expecting," Larry deadpanned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No," he interrupted. "It's fine. I wouldn't have started this topic if I didn't want to talk about it." He sighed heavily. It was a sigh that carried much more than the normal 'I don't want to do this but have to,' sigh. "Takuma and I, we had been friends for a long time." When Larry caught my confused arched eyebrow, he clarified. "Takuma is Kei's father. He was a first generation immigrant. His father..." Larry got a far off look in his eyes as if remembering something that was so unbelievable, it required full focus. "His father was one of the reasons that the Belken's hate people who aren't Belken."

"What?" I asked. "That made no sense."

"You ever here of the Suicide Squad?" I squinted to show my further confused state.

"The Suicide... What?" I thought about it and tried to think of when we were talking about. Then it hit me. "The Squadron from Tyler Island back during the Osean War?"

"That's the one," Larry said, a grin on his face as he went back to reminiscing for a moment. "Takuma's father was probably one of the best in terms of killing Belken pilots. Well, maybe until Takuma took to the skies himself. And when he did, there wasn't a time he wasn't up there without me. We had flown for a while before the Belken War, mercenaries tend to get a lot more action during peace time than pilots who are nationally tied. But he had met someone in Ustio when we were helping the Sapin nationals fight against their rebellion back in '84. He settled down, I didn't. We were still friends... but... when friends spend time away from each other, they change. He had himself a family, something to ground him. I found a different family, and time would end up telling me that it had been the wrong kind." Larry's enigmatic story was pulling me in more and more. I felt like a child being lured into some kind of fantastic bed-time story. Larry seemed to notice my anticipation for him to continue because he sent me what I could already tell was going to be a trademark smile.

"What do you know about the Belken War?" the man asked. "At least the parts that have to do with my old squadron, Galm?"

"What everyone knows," I told him simply. "You and Cipher were unstoppable, taking out Belken Aces whenever and wherever they showed up, all the while helping the allies push Belka back until..." I trailed off, no knowing how sensitive Larry would be to the mention of the bombings. "And then afterwards finishing off that terrorist group over Avalon Dam." The smile that Larry had most of the evening was gone and in its place, a somber and contemplative expression.

"Yeah," he said emptily. "That sounds like what they want 'everyone else' to think.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You probably know by now that the government will try to do just about anything to maintain the illusion of stability and cohesion. It's the one rule that every government will agree on unilaterally."

"Yeah, you could say I've had a recent lesson in that," I said a little softly. Larry just nodded knowingly.

"Takuma and I, we had a difference in opinion that caused us to go separate ways on June 6th of '95," Larry said after a long pause. I recognized that date. Everyone did.

"That was the day-"

"Yeah." He took another deep inhale of oxygen. "I tried to kill him." I stared at him unbelieving of what I had just heard. "I had joined the terrorist organization. I had joined them long before the war. They had been my family and I had betrayed the only true family I had ever had for them. I was flying a prototype that day." only the faintest hint of an amused grin touched Larry's face as he remembered that day. "Say what you will about that organization, but that plane was one of a kind. And I tried to use it to kill Takuma." He shook his head and got down to it. "For lack of technical terms, we jousted until he bested me. Now I have this call-sign as a constant reminder."

"You know," I said after a long, thought filled pause. "You don't have to keep that name."

"No," Larry said quickly. "I need it. It's what keeps me grounded now. A reminder to myself to really think about where my loyalty should lie." There was another long silence before Larry suddenly spoke up, surprising me to the point of making me jump in fright. "So, now you know the story behind my call-sign and a little about why Kei was so icy towards me. All without me revealing too much that Kei has probably carefully hidden." That's right. Now I needed to talk with her. Larry began to get up and I followed suit.

"Thanks," I said putting out my hand for the man.

"For what?" he asked, genuinely unsure what I was thanking him for.

"For sharing with me. You didn't have to, but you did. I think it's going to be enjoyable to work with you," I said with a smile. His confusion quickly went away as he grasped my hand and put a smile of his own on.

"Same here."

We both went our separate ways after that. I went towards Kei's room to see if she was still awake and in the mood to answer some questions. Once I reached her hall, I was very careful to sneak down it. I knew that there was still an army, or air force, of woman in this part of the base and I wasn't keen on them being party to the conversation I planned on having with Kei. When I reached her door, I gave a silent knock.

"Kei?" I called out in hopefully silent voice. I was surprised when the door opened with Kei standing behind it in her lounging clothes, some sweatpants and her white tank-top.

"Hey Caden," she said just as softly. Her face was tired but I could still make out an angry twinge behind it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, partially already knowing the answer. She walked back into the room, motioning for me to come in to continue our conversation in private. As I shut the door behind me, she gave a great sigh.

"I'm only telling you this because we promised to completely honest with each other and it's probably best just to address this and get it out in the open anyways." she said quickly with one giant breath. "I felt... a little... or maybe a lot... jealous."

"About Petra?" I asked, already knowing the answer. All she did was nod. "Kei, we were just talking."

"Caden, how did we meet?" Kei asked with enough seriousness to make me think back to the time we had first meet.

"I shot you down," I replied. Kei rolled her eyes and attempted to slap me before I pulled back and gave a real answer. "We met in that hangar." She nodded.

"Why'd you change your answer?" It wasn't so much a real question as one to get me thinking. I decided to think aloud.

"Because we talked." Kei nodded her head like it should be clear to me now. I still wasn't tracking.

"When you were talking with Petra today, it reminded me of that time me and you talked. It made me think that maybe I wasn't as unique as I thought I had been to you." I began to see why Kei had been so hurt at not being in our jokes.

"Kei, don't ever doubt you're one of a kind," I said reaching out and putting my hand on her knee. "What you and I have is something completely different from what Petra and I were having this afternoon. And you can be sure that it's going to stay that way. Of course, I'll try in the future to not make you feel as left out." Kei began to tear up a little as she moved in closer for a comforting hug.

"Thanks," she said simply.

"I love you," I told her after a moment.

"I love you too," she said as she pulled back recovering.

"I'll see you in the morning," I said as I got up to leave.

"Yeah," she said with a smile that told me she was going to be okay. "See you then."

The next morning, I was awoken earlier than usual by a knock at my door. Once I had thrown on a pair of pants and an undershirt, I answered the door.

"Nice to see you don't answer the door in boxers anymore," Kei said as I opened the door to find her waiting. "On second thought..."

"What are you doing here?" I asked her before I could change color much more.

"We'll be heading to Cruik," she said in a somewhat disappointed tone. "We'll be leaving soon but I figured we could get something to eat before that happens. Care to join me?"

"Sure, just give me a moment," I told her, slipping into my flight suit and heading out with her to the mess hall.

Kei and I had eaten our meals together so often, some things we did were becoming second nature. Some of these habits were good ones, like putting our napkins in our laps. Kei said that one made her feel like an old married couple. The first time she had said that, we both blushed, but now, we didn't bat an eyelash at it. Other habits were ones that we both had to look out for and stop. One of those habits was holding hands after completing a meal. While it might seem harmless in any other setting, at a military base, it can be... troublesome. We were doing just that when Petra came in, apparently looking to tell us about a preflight briefing the Colonel was going to give.

Kei made the move to try and hide our display, but on a spit second decision, I decided to keep her hand in mine only for a fraction of a second longer. Just long enough for Petra to see. Kei got an embarrass look on her face but as she turned to try and hide it, I caught a little bit of appreciativeness in her eyes as well. Petra's reaction made her face change again however.

"I KNEW IT!" she shouted in excitement and joy as if she had won some lottery. Almost immediately, she turned to the shade Kei had been seconds earlier and looked around to see all the faces that were now trained on her, including Kei's whose expression was one of... well, it was actually quite an unreadable face. Petra lowered her voice to just above a whisper as she leaned towards us. "You two are perfect," she strained.

"Really?" Kei asked flatly.

"What, you don't think so?" Petra asked in a concerned and worried voice.

"No!" Kei said quickly and a little too loudly, drawing some attention of her own. "No," she whispered as she looked between me and Petra. "Just, I guess I'm just surprised you saw it is all."

"Please, a blind person could see it," Petra said rolling her eyes. "We'll have to talk about this more. Anyways, the Colonel is starting to fume and I think it be best if we joined him in the conference room quickly. Dose he always have a short fuse?"

"Yes," Kei and I answered simultaneously as we got up and left with Petra. We got to the room quickly and sat as the Colonel cleared his throat.

"Today, you will be assisting ground forces on an attack on the enemies so called, Impregnable Fortress. I want you to show those Yukes just how foolish it was to give that name to an obstacle in our path. You should have had plenty of time to get to know the new additions to Wardog, so I will now give CSO assignments. Wardog three will consist of pilot Hans Grimm and CSO Larry Foulke. Wardog two will consist of pilot Kei Nagase and CSO Sylvia Solburg. That leaves Wardog one as pilot Caden Irving and CSO Petra Abels. I expect nothing short of perfection out there Wardog. Dismissed!" Without waiting for ceremony, the man left as we began to head out towards our new F-15E's.


	29. -Disqualified from Innocence-

**Disqualified From Innocence**

Flying with another person in your plane is different. We're all trained in aircraft that are two seater's, but that's a different story. When the person behind you has your life in their hands just as much as you have their life in your hands, it creates an interesting dynamic. It also creates lots of conversation. Petra and I had been on private channels for a majority of our flight over to Yuktobania.

"So, you and Captain Nagase," she began after a short reprieve in our conversation as casually as she could. Which wasn't very casual at all.

"Yup," I said, hoping my terse answer would be enough to show that I still wasn't comfortable sharing details about a relationship that wasn't exactly smiled upon in military settings. It wasn't.

"What's that like?" I cleared my throat, glancing over at Kei's plane. We were still low enough to fly without oxygen masks on so I could see her large grin on her face. It seemed her and Sylvia were also having some private bonding time. I glanced over at Grimm's plane curious to see how that was going. As I peered into the cockpit of my other wing-mates plane, I saw a scene that contrasted perfectly with Kei's plane. Both Grimm and Larry seemed to be dead set on keeping their gazes forward and unflinching. It was like they were having a bearing competition with a statue four yards in front of their plane. "Come on," Petra whined, getting my attention again. "I want some details! Sylvia forced me to leave or sell all my romance novels back when we first met at basic. Something about freeing myself to the real world. It's done things to me. Things I'm not happy with."

"Well," I began, trying to think of a way to satisfy the woman without saying much. "We met when we were training at Heierlark. We made things... official after our hearing in Oured. Well, at least official between us."

"I said details, Caden. Not some generic 'how I met her' story. I gave up my romance novels. Romance. I need a fix." I didn't know what else to tell. Luckily, I didn't have to think about it much longer as we entered the operations area.

"Allied forces in the air, listen to me," the commander we would be working with said.

"Don't think this gets you off the hook," Petra said quickly. "I'll be here, waiting. The. Whole. Trip. Back." I swallowed hard as I tuned back into the ground commander. I was now dreading our return trip more than the mission right in front of us.

"The enemy sent this message to our armies," the commander said as he cleared his voice. "'This fortress will not be captured. Go back to your country.'" I didn't know about the rest of my flight, but all I heard when the message was read was a taunt to do exactly what it said couldn't be done. "All right then," the commander continued. "Let's finish this up quick so we can get home to our families. Fighters, we need you to place top priority on eliminating the threat to our ground forces, wherever it comes from. We're counting on you." As the commander clicked off his communicator, I heard other friendly forces on the ground begin to speak up.

"You know the Sand Island squadron above us? Supposedly, they're the Razgriz we keep hearing about."

"You know, in our training course, you guys got brought up a lot," Petra began during a momentary lapse in conversation among the ground forces.

"What did the instructors have to say about us?" I asked her, my curiosity piqued.

"Oh," she said, a slight chuckle coming through her voice. "It wasn't the instructors who were talking about you."

"Oh. Then what-"

"This is the third attempt," one of the ground forces interrupted. "Remember, there will be no fourth time!"

"No time for chit-chat, Caden. Now we go to work." I rolled my eyes at my CSO who now had me a little curious as to what had been talked about in her training classes. We began by targeting some of the pillboxes that lined the road leading up to the huge fortress. I could see some planes beginning to scramble off the runway that ran through the center of the large structure.

"Archer, looks like they're scrambling some of their fighters. Try to take them out before they cause too much of a hassle. Edge and I will begin to target the anti-armor instillations on the ground.

"Copy that captain."

"Edge," I called out.

"Yes, Blaze?" Kei said as she pulled up to my wingtip.

"You target forces near the perimeter of the fortress. I'll deal with anything that decides to come out and face our ground forces directly."

"Copy that," she said as she broke off to do some damage.

"Wow," one of the ground units began. "They're already further along than any of our previous support." Another one of the ground forces spoke up right after him.

"With them flying this mission, it's like we're the support for them."

"Allied planes," the ground commander began. "This is the Ferdelance Armored Brigade. Requesting orders to penetrate the fortress!"

"This Wardog one. You are cleared to enter. Designate any and all targets for tasking as soon as you're able."

"All right, roger that. Air support is with us! All Ferdelance units, forward!" From my loitering position at 500 feet, I could clearly see a long line of dark vehicles begin to enter the large structure we would be overtaking. As soon as the first vehicle entered the facility, my HUD began to light up with targets.

"Your first twenty targets out of fifty. Make that sixty. Wow, they're going crazy with those designators," Petra muttered as she began to work fiendishly behind me. I began dropping ordinance on the marked targets. Occasional anti-air defenses fired at me but were quickly taken out by Kei as she continued her over watch of the perimeter of the fortress, taking out any instillations that tried to fire at me or Grimm. Suddenly, an enemy transmission broke through.

"This is Wisna one... commence attack."

"Targeting the Razgriz and enemy strike craft."

"Captain!" Grimm spoke up, gaining my attention. "They broke through! They're coming for you and the ground forces! I tried to stop them but-"

"It's okay Archer. Kei? Can we spare a few moments to deal with the airborne threats?"

"Ground forces are cleared enough that we should be able to deal with some enemies in the air for a little while.

"Ferdelance Brigade, we're going to break off and engage airborne hostiles. Call us the moment you need air support again."

"Copy Wardog one. Give them a present from Commander Nelson for me."

"Wilco," I replied as I pulled off. There were three radar signatures coming toward Kei and I and one was twisting around with Grimm.

"What's our air-to-air capability look like Pixy?"

"Two slammers and two sidewinders," she replied quickly. "Which would you like me to arm?"

"The guns," I said, a smile sneaking on my face. I normally don't enjoy shooting down planes. But it had been a long time since we had been on the offensive, or so it felt like. On top of that, I had some pent up emotions that needed letting out.

"Blaze..." Kei began, an edge of danger in her tone.

"Chill, I'm not going to do anything crazy or suicidal," I told my wing-mate as we began to approach the oncoming enemy planes.

"I know," she said, the same unspoken threat in her voice. "You know how I know? Because if you even start to try something mildly idiotic in that plane, I won't hesitate in becoming an extra plane on your tail. And unlike so many of your fallen foes, you won't be able to shake me." A ping on my radio told me Petra was trying to contact me through the private channel. Once I let her on, she wasted no time asking a question.

"Is she serious?"

"Probably," I said as I began to cut the throttle for our engagement. "Okay Edge, you take left, I'll take right. Keep an eye out for that third guy.

"Blaze-" Kei began again but I wasn't going to keep talking with enemies so close.

"I'll be fine, just take out these planes." With a slight hesitation, Kei's plane pulled away from mine and began to pursue the enemy. I began to follow a Gripen that had broken off to the right at breakneck speeds. The small fighter was taking every advantage it could against my large F-15. We began to enter a turning war which I knew wouldn't turn out well for me, so instead, I pushed my throttle to max and began to after-burn towards the sun. The plane didn't know what had happened when I was no longer on his tail and couldn't spot me in the sun when he began to look around. It was simple enough to circle back around and perform a strafing run on the confused target.

"Edge, how are you handling your plane?"

"With finesse, as always. Unfortunately, so is the person following me."

"And you're always worrying about me," I mumbled as I began to head towards her position. I could hear Petra laugh a little and Kei must've heard one of us because she spoke up not a moment later

"What was that?"

"I've got you covered," I told her quickly as I approached her pursuer. "Break right," I called out. Once I had finished the sentence, Kei and I simultaneously executed our tasks with her breaking out of my line of fire and me firing the 20mm cannon at the small plane in front of me. Once it had disintegrated, Kei pulled back to my wing.

"That was close," she said breathing out a sigh.

"Who took out the third one," Sylvia asked suddenly.

"Third one?" I asked before realizing that we had engaged three planes, not two. Suddenly, my missile alert went off and I lost all conscious thought as my body just reacted. My red HUD wasn't a sight I was used to seeing and the color was starting to make me lose my cool. I was at maximum throttle without hitting after-burners. I didn't want to have a giant blaze in the back of my plane that the heat-seeking missile would just track harder. I yanked back on my flight stick as far as it would go and the F-15 responded surprisingly nimbly.

As I was pulled down into my seat, I glanced at the mirrors on the supports of my glass canopy. I could see the smoke trail and the source getting alarmingly close. I began to roll to the left and pulled back down on the flight stick, making the sharpest turn I could without snapping the wings off my plane. The buzzing in my headset was starting to get to me. I had never had a missile on me for this long before and my mind was starting to tell me to brace for impact.

"No offense to your evasive skills, Blaze," Petra grunted out. "But I'm deploying countermeasures."

Oh yeah. We had those. There was a large thumping sound as the plane jettisoned burning magnesium that left bright targets for the missile to track. One second afterwards, there was a deafening explosion behind us. Then without warning a second one sounded off.

"Enemy plane down," Kei said over the radio as she pulled back to my side. I didn't need to see her covered mouth to know she was smiling at our brief reversal of roles.

"Isn't this amazing, Valkyrie!" Petra called out in an awestruck tone. "It's like we're in some kind of action movie!"

"Speak fur yur self," the woman said heatedly. "I can barely look out me canopy without getten sick."

"I never understood why you chose this job," Petra said in a humored tone.

"Cause I like bloody jets!" the other woman yelled out, clearly aggravated.

"Wardog leader, this is Ferdelance," the commander on the ground interrupted mercifully. "We need your air support again. They're starting to pull out all the stops and we can't hold out much longer on our own."

"Copy Ferdelance. Wardog one and two engaging. Archer, are you good now?"

"Yes captain. I'll make sure not to let them break through again."

"Good man," I called back as me and Kei began to descend back down towards the large concrete structure. "I'll deal with units close to our allies," I told Kei when we were close to engagement distance. "You make sure they aren't able to reinforce themselves."

"Copy. And Pixy?"

"Yes?" the surprised woman asked.

"Thanks for keeping him safe," Kei said with genuine gratitude.

"He may be your man, but that doesn't mean I don't like having him around as well," Petra said in a relaxed tone. I didn't know whether to be thankful that the two women wouldn't be worried about each other anymore or upset that I was now Kei's possession. On second thought, maybe that was something to be thankful for as well...

"I've got your ground ordinance armed," Petra said pulling me back to the mission. We've got four JDAM I don't think we'll need for our flight back."

"Well let's get rid of them," I said with a tint of humor as I lined up some release points. After I had solid ground lock on four distinct targets, I released the four bombs simultaneously and surprised the enemy with a fifth kill on a tank with my guns as I strafed the ground.

"These Sand Island Guy's are impressive," one of the friendly ground units said as I looped back around for another strafing pass. As I came back around, I saw Kei's ordinance strike four different positions as well, weakening the enemy to half of their ground unit strength. I was just about to open fire on my next target when the Ferdelance tank commander spoke up rather hastily.

"BLAZE, BREAK ATTACK!" I reacted so quickly to pulling up and avoiding the kill that I heard the airframe of the fighter creak a little.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I returned to a suitable altitude.

"The enemy is surrendering. They're all coming out of their positions with hands held high." There was some indistinct chatter in the background before the commander spoke up again. "Yasmin, what's that guy saying?" More chatter and suddenly a light laugh that seemed out of place to me. Kei had joined up on my side and began to patrol the airspace with me. "The ground forces that are surrendering are saying that they know better than to resist the Razgriz. They want to see their families again. I think your job here is done, Wardog. I'm relieving you of your ground support duties."

"Well," I said after a few moments of silence. That was..."

"Unexpected," Sylvia finished for me.

"Archer," Kei called out. "Come and join back up with us. We're good to head back home now."

"Negative Captain Nagase!" Grimm said in a panicked voice. "The enemy planes are still coming!"

"What?" I asked.

"This is Lancer," Larry said speaking up for the first time since the beginning of the mission. He suddenly entered a more quiet and contemplative tone. "There had been rumors, but I had never thought they were true..."

"Care to share, Larry?" Petra asked.

"Let's just say for now, I've got some old friends here in Yuktobania. They've told me that should any units surrender, other units loyal to Yuktobania should wipe out any traitors."

"That's... How can people be so... STUPID!" Kei said in outrage.

"Crap," Grimm muttered over the radio. "Captain Irving, some of them got through again. I can't hold them all off much longer."

"Keep trying Grimm," I said over the radio. "We're coming as quickly as we can." Kei and I began to fly as quickly as we could towards Grimm's desperate struggle. He had gotten so used to flying with another person to support him, I was amazed he had been able to hold as long as he had. We arrived to find that there was four more Gripen's circling Grimm like a kettle of vultures.

"I'll focus on the ones going after the ground targets," I told Kei as we arrived on scene. "You help out Grimm and keep his six sanitized." I had brief moment of joy and then sorrow as I remembered using the same kind of language with Chopper early on and his reaction to my choice of words. Seeming to sense my change of mood, Kei spoke up quickly.

"Hey, hang in there Blaze. I'll make sure to keep Grimm safe." Then, in an effort to lighten the mood, she added, "You just be sure to not make Petra's job any hard than it has to be." I couldn't help but grin a little as I began to turn towards my first target. It was starting a low egress from the small fur-ball it had been in and was trying to sneak towards the fortress unnoticed. I began to pursue him a quickly as the lumbering F-15 would allow. We began to streak past the ground as I got below two hundred feet.

"Wow, this is fast." Petra said nervously. "And low. This is very fast and low."

"You alright there?" I asked as I began to hone my focus on the small aircraft that had just now noticed I was on its tail.

"I'm fine. Peachy. It's just-" she cut herself off as we entered the middle of the fortress the Gripen flew under the bridge and then pulled up tightly, hoping to lose me with its agility. But I knew how to make my big bird fly. I followed him with the precision of Belken made sports car. Say what you will about their attitudes towards others, but the Belken's knew how to make their performance equipment.

"It's just what?" I asked as we climbed with the Gripen. It was now the one at the disadvantage. I had two large and powerful engines pushing me against gravity while he had only one.

"It's just that, well, I'm a little frightened of heights... and high speeds." If I hadn't been so focused on the plane in front of me, I probably would've stalled out.

"What? Then why-"

"I like bloody jets! And when you're so high that you can't see the ground, it's hard to even tell you're that high or going that fast. Plus, I'm usually just looking at this instrument panel so..."

"And you're confused about Sylvia," I said in a somewhat chastising manner as I got behind the plane in a shooting position. I let loose some of the rounds and the light plane was destroyed by the monster bullets that pelted its frame.

"Blaze," Kei called over the Radio. "One more plane broke from our engagement and is heading your way. Be on the lookout."

"Thanks for the heads up," I said as I began to head back down towards the fortress. "You see him on scope?" I asked Petra.

"Yeah," she said after a moment. "They're coming in low and fast just like the other one. Of course," she added with dismay.

"You can close your eyes if you want," I suggested as I dove down to meet the plane.

"Well," the CSO said with a waiver in her voice as the ground began to rush towards us. "When I was in training, I always pretended it was just a movie and I was able to deal with it that way. Luckily the people teaching us never really caught on, so I was good." I began to pull out of the dive and chase down the plane that would be over allies and non-combatants in moments. "Of course, with your flying, that's both easier and harder to do."

"How do you mean?" I asked as we rushed back into the fortress. The plane in front of me began to weave between pillars that were being used to support a runway that went through and over the large structure.

"You're flying is just like it is in all the movies, fast and extremely precise. But then at the same time, that's what makes it a little scarier for me." The plane in front of me was continuing to go crazy all around the base. It was like he was trying to get a shot off at the ground but couldn't because I was right there on him. "Wow," Petra said suddenly.

"What?" I asked just before I grunted into an intense turn that brought us uncannily close to one of the fortress walls.

"The ground chatter," Petra said after another moment. "They're all... I'll let you hear for yourself." My headset suddenly clicked and was filled with Chanting. At first I didn't catch what the multitudes of voices were yelling but after a few seconds of my continued chase after the plane that was darting everywhere crazily, I understood.

Razgriz, Razgriz, Razgriz.

They were cheering for me. And the accent in some of the yells of the name of a terrifying demon told me it wasn't just Osean soldiers who were chanting the name either. Two peoples united, even if for a moment, in the similar objective of encouraging a protector who didn't care about sides, only about preserving the greatest amount of life. And boy was it encouragement. I decided that I had enough of dancing around. I slammed down the over ride lever for the air brake and pulled my nose up sharply to get an edge on the endless turning struggle we had entered around the fortress. It was beginning to feel like a Coliseum of old, with two gladiators facing each other down before a cheering crowd.

With my nose finally in front of the enemy, I opened fire indiscriminately, rounds impacting the wall in front of the plane before pelting the craft itself. Fuel ignited and a fireball crashed into the wall, no longer able to continue the battle. I pushed my throttle up to keep from stalling and rose back up to a comfortable altitude for both Petra and myself. The chanting had now dissolved into roars and cheers of excitement at the victory of the favored plane.

"That was one hell of a show," the ground commander said after a moment. "Even the Yukes seemed to like that one."

"Captain," Grimm said, pulling me from my warrior high. "We've finished off here. We need fuel though."

"Hey, hey!" someone called over the radio. "Stay where you are or we'll shoot!" There was a tension over the air as we only heard silence for a moment in-between transmission. Finally, a voice came from the ground again. "Sir, one of the soldiers who surrendered said that they can refuel Wardog. Said it would be the least they could do for the squadron that saved them from their own country."

"This war," Kei said solemnly over the channel used for our own flights communication. "It needs to end before we tear ourselves apart."

We landed and re-fueled at the captured base. We even were able to shake hands with a couple of the soldiers who surrendered. One of them asked the innocent question of where the fourth Razgriz was. Things were a lot quieter after that. We were all still in a relatively quiet mood when we began our return flight. Thunderhead seemed to catch on that we needed to talk, but didn't want to. So he started the conversation

"There's an allied squadron to the east of your position. "They'll guide you home for the remainder of the flight. Good work people. We're one step away from the enemy's capital. We can win this as long as you're with us. I can feel it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Thunderhead," I told the man as we continued on our heading.

"Those enemy pilots we fought today... I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to fly with them in peacetime." Kei's statement got me thinking. What would it be like? They had made me dance all over the place, even got the jump on me once.

"Wardog, this is the 8492nd Squadron. Can you see us? It'll be an honor for us to escort you heroes. Let's go home."

"Yeah," Grimm said after a moment of thinking. "But I'm still wondering what Captain Chopper was doing when-" Suddenly, there was a large burst of static over to radio and my radar began to fritz out.

"Petra, what's going on?" I asked my back-seater.

"Enemy ECM!" she called out to me.

"Wait a second," Grimm said over the radio, seeming to remember something extremely important. "That escort plane... oh no!"

"The 8492nd Squadron doesn't exist!" Kei said in a panic.

"Someone is trying to lead us into a trap! Just like back at the stadium!" Grimm said as he began to close ranks with Kei and I.

"Thunderhead! Thunderhead, respond!" Sylvia called out in a desperate voice, realizing that if the three experienced pilots were beginning to panic, she should be saying her final prayers.

I was saying prayers alright. But they weren't for me. The squadron in front of us had _something_ to do with Chopper's death. _Something_. While I would've preferred to know _exactly_ who had their hand in what, I was happy to settle with annihilating every single plane in front of me. Because _something_ disqualified them from innocence. And I had no problem killing the guilty.


	30. -Confrontation-

**Confrontation**

"Multiple unmarked fighters inbound!" Grimm called out, a frightened tone easily perceived in his voice "… Hey! Is that their voice on the radio?"

"You must destroy them. We can't let them end this war," the voice that had greeted us so pleasantly moments ago had turned to ice cold venom.

"Roger! We'll surround them and attack them from all directions."

"The 8492nd Squadron aren't Yuktobanian spies?!" I guess that was her hypothesis on them. I, however, didn't care who they were. They're fate would be the same.

"8492, 8492, 8492," Grimm began to recite. "I, I know I've heard that somewhere before..." Grimm continued, leading off into some deep thought. "That's right, when we were helping the President's emergency landing, it was the 8492nd who took our place!"

"Yeah," Kei said, darkness in her voice that mirrored my own. "You're right."

"They got the President, too... so that's what escalated the war?"

"Exactly," I said in brooding tone. I was almost shaking with pent up rage.

"We've gotta tell people about this! But how? We're completely surrounded!"

"So we'll break through!" Kei exclaimed.

"Captain, we've got to make it back! Even if we have to turn our backs to the enemy. Right?"

"You two can turn back if you want. I have something I need to make these people pay for," I told the man. I began to accelerate towards the large cloud of enemies.

"You're not thinking about defeating all these enemies before returning? That's insane!"

"Caden, I think you should listen to your wing mates," Petra said in a counseling tone from behind me.

"Captain, she's just worried about you..."

"They're responsible for Chopper's death!" I told them. I should be obvious why we couldn't let them leave.

"They went on too far, capturing the fortress," one of the enemy fighters said as he flew ever closer to us.

"These pilots are the straw that broke the camel's back. Get them."

"We have to get out of here and report this!" Kei exclaimed at me as she drew even closer to my plane. "Caden, please, listen to me. Chopper wouldn't want us to throw away our lives when we have a chance at ending this war." I faltered in my will for a moment. Kei's words were spoken true. Out of all of us, Chopper was the one who was publicly against this war from the very start. "We have to return to base and let someone know about this," Kei told me, a little more softly this time.

"Enemies of Belka, be gone!" one of the pilots yelled out as a volley of missiles was launched towards. Us.

"Break, break!" Petra yelled out o us as if it weren't clear enough.

"Belka?" Kei asked. I was wondering at the exclamation as well. Why had the pilot yelled that? Then the memories of the previous Belken pilots came to head. The pilot in the F-22 at Apito. The Belken woman who had shot down Chopper with the mysterious beam of light. Who were these people?

"Wardog, we've got to get out of here and warn everyone what's going on. It seems Belka is behind this somehow."

"Copy that Captain," Grimm said in a relieved voice. "I'll only concentrate on the enemies directly in our path!" Kei and I turned and began to head towards the coast south of us. It would be a round-about path but it would get us home in one piece. Hopefully.

"Don't let their moves deceive you," one of the pilots called out. "They're getting in the way of Belka's Future. Aim for the cockpit. Don't let them get out alive."

"Let's head for the terrain," Larry piped up for the first time in a while. "We might be able to lose them in the mountains."

"It's risky," Kei said pulling back to my side. "But it's a risk we're going to have to take." I nodded deftly, though I wasn't sure who could see it.

"Let's do it," I said as we began to head down towards a particularly narrow valley. Suddenly, a Su-47 flashed in front of me, it's forward swept wings unmistakable. Out of simple reactions coupled with nerves, anger, and rage that was hiding just below the surface, I pulled the gun trigger, almost like a reflex.

"One of ours went down!" the enemy fighters called out.

"They're just as powerful as our intelligence stated. Don't let up on them. The future of Belka is hanging in the balance." Once we got down below the peaks of mountains I could hear Petra beginning to panic. Then I remembered her earlier admission to me. Coupled with murderous Belken aces on our tails and her fear of heights and speed, this was probably a nightmare come true for her. I switched to the private comm. to talk to her without anyone else judging her fright.

"It's okay if you want to close your eyes," I told her as gently as I could with my mind performing twenty seven tasks at once. "No one's going to care right now."

"Thanks for the offer," Petra said quickly, a tremor in her voice she was just barely keeping down. "But right now, you need me more than ever. Closing my eyes, that wouldn't be much help to you."

"Captain," Grimm said interpreting. "They're coming down into the canyon with us."

"So, this is the squadron I've heard so much about," a pilot in another Su-47 that was behind us said. "This war doesn't need any heroes. There'll be no place in history for you." I suddenly got a lock on warning and in the narrow channels we were flying in, there was only one place to go. I pulled up quickly along with my wing mates. There was plenty of enemies waiting for us to pop up though. Warnings turned into alerts.

"Wardog!" I called out franticly. "Break and proceed to exit the area! We need to get out of here!"

"We're sticking with you Captain," Grimm said as he joined up on my wing as close as he dared. Kei mirrored the action. It looked like whatever one of our fates was going to be, all of us would share it. We continued to evade missiles as we slowly inched out of the airspace. When we got an opportunity to shoot, we took it, eventually thinning out the opposition to four planes that wouldn't fall trap to easy pickings, preferring to loiter just outside of missile launch range and harassing us with their lock on's.

"Petra," I called out, suddenly remembering her previous listing of our air to air load out. "Give me the slammers."

"Since when did you call your AMRAAM's Slammers?" Kei asked as we were dancing everywhere to avoid the other fighter's harassment.

"Since my CSO called them Slammers," I responded. "How about you get yours armed as well. We'll go ahead and get these guys off us, maybe even make them go away... permanently."

"Did you plan this all along?" Kei asked suddenly.

"Plan what?"

"We said you couldn't shoot them all down and now there are only four left. Are you telling me that's coincidence?"

"Yyyyeeeessss..." I drawled slowly. "No, I hadn't PLANED it that way, but on some subconscious level, I might've been working towards it."

"Right, subconsciously," Kei deadpanned. "Okay, I've got my missiles armed. Battle link is engaged. Let's get these bastards."

"Wow," Larry said in a surprised tone. "If that doesn't tell me you've grown up, I don't know what will."

"Fox three," I called out. "Fox three," I repeated as the second missile jumped off its launching rail and raced off towards the far off Su-47's. Two bright flashes let us know two of the four planes went down. Radar was still messed up but I could tell that the other two planes were not flying away. Instead, they seemed to be coming in closer. We had made them angry.

"Wardog," I called out as the Su-47's closed in. "We need to get out of here. Full throttle out of here. We can outrun them." We punched our throttles and got out of the area at speeds the unstable planes couldn't reach. The sky was silent again as we were all shocked and strained from the intense day we were having. We were beginning our landing sequence in the early hours of the next day when Kei decided to break the silence first.

"There's no point in talking to that blockhead Commander. He treated our President like an idiot just because he wanted peace."

"What about Hamilton?" Grimm suggested after a moment.

"Roger that. The Captain and I will go see him. Grimm, you take the rest of the squadron and go let Genette and Pops know."

"Right," the man said as he touched down first. "Be careful." Kei and I landed soon after and practically hopped out of our aircraft with our CSO's right on our tails. After they had joined up with Grimm, we headed off towards the main building where Hamilton's office was located. The base was a totally different place in the early hours of the day. I had hardly ever been up before 0500 on base before, and even then it was always inside. The air was cool and humid, perfect for a run.

"You know, if it were under different circumstances," Kei began, looking up at the moon in the sky and the stars right beside it. "I'd say that right now would be a wonderful time for stargazing."

"I was actually just thinking how the conditions are just right for a run," I mentioned as we walked up to the door to enter the base. Kei just gave me a look that told me I had said something wrong. "What?"

"Here's a pro tip for life," Kei began sarcastically. "When a woman offers to go stargazing with you, don't ignore it." She promptly opened the door and let herself in quickly leaving me to think about what she had said.

"What?" I asked belatedly, following her in a second later.

"It's over and gone now," she said as we walked briskly through the base. "Just remember it for future reference. Anyways, we've got to find Hamilton."

"Right," I said nodding my head enthusiastically. "Let's try his office."

"Well there's an idea Captain," Kei said turning towards me with a smirk. "Obvious."

"Hey," I said with mock seriousness, not being able to help myself. I hadn't had a good release of humor in a while and it just needed to be let off, now was as good as any time to do it. "It's Captain Irving." Kei just rolled her eyes as we continued down the hallway to Hamilton's office. I had hardly visited his office before. The only time I really came near it was when I needed to report to the base commander and seeing how he didn't like to see me more than was necessary that was very rare in its self.

As the matter we were seeing him for was urgent, we didn't bother to knock. Because of this, we were able to hear the tail end of a conversation. A conversation that wasn't in Osean. A conversation that was quite clearly being held in Belken.

"Captain Irving, Captain Nagase, this is a surprise," the man said smoothly as he put down the phone as if nothing had been going on. "I'm going to assume that you have something urgent to tell me if you are willing to forgo the normal entry procedure for a superior officer's office." Kei and I looked at each other with scowls of confusion before returning our questioning gaze back to Hamilton.

"Sir," Kei began, trying to redeem herself by coming to a position of attention near the front of the desk. I mirrored her example quickly. "We have hard evidence that proves Belka is behind this war. If we can get this evidence to the president-"

"Hard evidence, you say?" Hamilton asked with raised eyebrows. Something about his surprise though... was fake. "What kind of hard evidence?"

"Sir, the gun cameras of our planes has footage of us engaging the 8492nd Squadron after our success at the Fortress."

"And you know they were Belken?" he asked, the same sense of illegitimacy coming from him.

"Yes... sir," Kei said, beginning to sense it as well.

"Well, this is a problem," he said as he brought a hand up to his chin to rub it methodically. "We'll have to see the Base commander about this," he said as he began to walk towards the two of us. Just then, there was an announcement over the speakers in the room.

"Sir, the Wardog spy's have landed, it's just now been confirmed. Does the shoot on site order still stand?" What happened next was a fury of motion coming from Kei. Hamilton foolishly tried to rush her only to find that Kei knew quite a bit about how to defend herself from physical attack. She flowed around him like water, his attack at her looked like a charging rhinoceros compared to her carefully aimed strike to the back of his neck. His charging momentum carried his unconscious body another two feet before he fell to the ground in a hump of body.

"What was that?" I asked after a moment of staring.

"My father made sure that I knew not only how to defend myself in the air, but on the ground as well," she replied, panting slightly at the adrenaline rush coursing through her.

"Was I ever in danger of that happening to me?" I asked as she began to move for the door.

"I don't think so," Kei replied as she reached for the door handle. "Well, maybe once when I was drunk that one night. My delusional self thought that an unconscious you was better than no you at all."

"Thanks for keeping that in check," I muttered as I joined her next to the door. Suddenly, we heard some gunshots accompanied by the light going out. Then there was shouting. Judging by the gravely tone in the harsh noise, it was the base commander. Kei and I glanced at each other again, checking to make sure we really had heard what we thought we had and then rushed out the door to see Grimm, Genette and Pop's running down the hall towards us.

"Come on!" Pop's yelled out surprising me at his raised voice. "Follow me! We need to get out of here!" Needing no further motivation, Kei and I followed the man through the base that he knew like the back of his eyelids. Once we were outside and out of immediate danger, we all took a breather. Genette was the first to speak up.

"Hamilton's got the Base Commander deceived too," he said with a large sigh.

"Who's Hamilton deceiving now?" I asked slightly confused. Sure the man had tried to attack Kei, but everything was happening so fast and... Strangely, it was almost like a dream.

"President Harling isn't in the capital, but all of the war generals are," Genette began.

"After the Belken war, Osea got some Belken aces to fly for them. Guess what that squadron was called?" Pop's added. It was clear he was speaking of the 8492nd. "Guess who used to be assigned to that squadron?" Pop's asked again. This time, though, I didn't know what he was speaking of.

"Who?" Grimm asked, just as confused as the rest of us.

"Hamilton," Pop's replied simply.

"I don't know who it is," Genette began. "But someone's trying to widen the rift between the two countries and keep this war going. If Osea continues to win, then the war will be over."

"And Belka's trying to prevent that by going after us?" Kei asked, clearly not impressed by the idea. "You're kidding."

"You people are the pillar of morale for the entire Osean Army now," Genette replied simply, reminding me of the night he had said pretty much the same thing to me.

"And now you know something you were better off not knowing... the President's disappearance," Pop's finished.

"Listen Pop's," Grimm said after a moment. "Who exactly are you?"

"It's no good," Petra said running up to us with Sylvia and Larry in tow from somewhere that must've been far off for her to be as out of breath as she was. "They seized our planes in the hangers." Pop's scratched his goatee briefly before speaking again.

"Hangar C in the rear probably isn't so heavily guarded,"

"Yeah," I began, knowing about the place Pop's was talking about. "But... over there, there's nothing but..."

"We'll escape with my training jets," the man said confirming my suspicions. "Good thing I maintain all my planes well, eh?" he said with a small smile. "Let's try it. Genette, you'll take the seat behind me." Genette seemed a little nervous. The last time he had been in a plane close to the specs of a fighter, he had been ambushed.

"We need to move now," Larry said looking around for danger. "The longer we wait around, the more time they'll have to find us and tighten down security."

"Yeah," Kei agreed, nodding her head once firmly. "Let's get going." We ran in the darkness towards the hangar at the furthest end of the island. When we approached, there was only two sentinels guarding the entrance to the hangar. Both had M-16 assault rifles that weren't pointed anywhere in particular at the moment and were chatting idly with each other.

"Now what?" Sylvia asked as we watched from the cover from behind a parked vehicle.

"Pop's and I will lead them away," Genette said after a moment. "They don't have any orders about us so we should be neutral in this all. Once we've lead them far enough away, get in there and get the planes prepped. Pop's and I will come back as soon as we're able and join up with you. Just make sure our plane is ready as well."

"Sounds like a plan," Grimm said with a firm nod.

"Right," Pop's said taking a deep breath and standing up with Genette. "Here goes," he said as he walked out of cover with the journalist. We couldn't hear what they were saying very well but eventually the two guards began running back towards the main building with Pop's and Genette right behind them. The rest of us got out of our cover and rushed the building. Once we were inside, we began removing wheel chucks, removing covers and cycling engines. The last step was the loudest and we all winced when we started up Pop's and Genette's waiting jet first. We promptly got into our own and began the start up process as well. Seconds later, the two men rushed back into the building, flung open the doors, and jumped into their plane, already rolling out as the cockpit was closing. We took off in a mass group and I could hear some bullets pining against the frames of our aircraft as some soldiers took pop shots at us. Once we were in the air, Grimm asked the next logical question.

"So, where do we go now?"

"We no longer have a home to return to," Pop's added thoughtfully. This was a pickle. Sure, we had escaped, but now we were flying with no destination in mind with limited fuel and no weapons. Our radios suddenly picked up transmissions from back at the base.

"Attention, all Air Force planes! Enemy spy elements have made off with four training jets and are heading north. Find them and shoot them down. Repeat, all Air Force planes..."

"That's Hamilton's voice! The bastard..." Grimm said in the most menacing tone I had heard. I couldn't help but understand his rage. Out of all the higher ranking people on the island, Hamilton had been the nicest to our squadron. Even Genette had gotten good treatment from him. Was it all a farce to lure us into false security? Had he been planning this all along? Maybe it was real in the beginning when he thought we weren't a threat, but-

"Why does Hamilton sound stuffed up?" Petra asked from behind me, interrupting my introspection. I shot a knowing glance over to Kei. He most likely had a couple tissues pressed up his nose to stop the bleeding he had caused him with her moves. Kei just remained silent.

"I know a place..." Pop's said suddenly "But you'll have to follow me. Guess I'll try my hand at combat maneuvering, then. Excuse me while I take the lead. Follow me, people." I gladly moved aside as Pop's got in lead position and began to change our course further out to sea.

It was four hours before we got our first radio transmission from someone outside our small group. And it wasn't a good first transmission.

"This is the 8492nd Squadron. We have a visual on the enemy. Engaging."

"Again?" Kei asked as Pop's began to change course only slightly. "I thought we handled them over Yuktobania."

"Guess enough of the sods bailed out," Sylvia remarked.

"This is Thunderhead. Roger, 8492nd. Are those guys really traitors?" The man sounded hurt in a sense. I remembered when he had stood up for us back when we worked with Mattock Squadron. We had been trying to reach other aircraft with our radios, but we were constantly being jammed. Our close proximity was the only thing that kept us in contact with each other.

"Yeah," the lead plane of the 8492nd replied simply.

"I can't believe it," Thunderhead said, the hurt tone still in his voice. When all of this was cleared up, I would have to buy him a couple of rounds.

"You can believe what you want, but it's the truth," Hamilton spoke over the radio, his voice still sounding a little stuffed up. "8492nd Squadron, you have permission to shoot down those planes."

"8292nd, roger."

"I'll get you guys out of here," Pop's said, trying to take our minds off of the heavily armed F-15 S/MTD's on our tails. The planes looked like some kind of dangerous knife with pointed edges coming out of it at every angle. "You all stay with me now."

"Got it," I replied as I got behind his plane. Kei followed my lead and Grimm took up the rear. Once we were all lined up, we dove towards an island. When we were just above the surface of the land mass, my radar began to go crazy. Ignoring it, I continued to keep my eyes glued to Pop's as he flew around with grace and precision. How could a flight mechanic have kept up with all these flight maneuvers after 15 years? Everyone knew Pop's had been Captain Bartlett's flight lead, at least, that was the story.

"That flying style... that isn't the Colonel, is it?" one of the planes perusing us asked. Now I was confused. Pop's was a second lieutenant. I had never heard of a Colonel being demoted to second lieutenant before.

"Colonel?" another one of the 8492nd asked. "You mean THE Colonel? The legendary pilot they used to call Huckebein the Raven during the last war?"

"Yeah," the man who had initiated the line of questioning said flatly and with a tinge of hate. "The most infamous traitor our country's ever produced." But the 8492nd was Belken. This wasn't making sense at all...

"Is that you Ashley?" Pop's finally asked. He knew these people? "I kept hearing this name, '8492,' and was wondering what the heck it was. Since you started calling yourselves the Grabacr Fighter Squadron in the last war, I got sick of flying in the same sky with ya." I had heard of the Grabacr as well. They weren't known for their kindness and hospitality towards non-Belken pilots. "Sounds like you've strayed even further from your ideals since then."

"What's that island down there?" the pilot asked suddenly, now interested in the land mass we were flying over. "Dammit, my radar's out..." he said, discovering what we already knew.

"That's a volcanic island. There's a strong magnetic field around all of it. Our radar's out too, so you guys better follow me closely," Pop's told us as we began to weave through some wind turbines.

"The ravine is widening up ahead..." Grimm began as we came up and over a hill. "What' that?"

"It's a scrap yard," Kei said in fascination as we flew low over a large field of abandoned skeletons of planes. Everything from old B-52's to some Osean War dinosaurs were in the field. I glanced down briefly at the seemingly endless amount of old planes. They were all so bare and dilapidated that a twinge of sadness shot through me at the sight. We continued to fly around the island, dodging into valleys, flying over ridges, skimming over water, all in an attempt to lose our persistent pursuers who had to rely on their eyes to spot us without their radar. Suddenly, Pop's began a very unconventional conversation.

"We're diving into that cave now," he said very matter-of-factly. "You all ready for this?

"Um..." I began. I could hear elevated breathing starting to come from Petra. She had been doing pretty well lately but I didn't know if she could handle this cave. Did Pop's even know there was an exit? Had he done this before?

"Sorry, of course you are." he said with a slight smile in his voice that I didn't feel like mirroring. "I guess that question was a little silly."

"He can't... Are we really-?" Petra began asking.

"Hey," I told her in as calm a voice I could manage for her. "You're okay to close your eyes now. No weapons to manage and the radars out."

"Yeah, okay," she said quickly. "Just let me know when all this is done." We flew through the tunnel as quickly as we dared. The immediate change from light to dark was a strain on my eyes and I struggled to keep them open to prevent a crash in the narrow space. It was a good thing we were in the small trainers otherwise I wasn't so sure we would've been able to fit.

"I can't believe we're both flying the same type of plane!" Grimm said after a while. He had been keeping up with us pretty good but he made sure to let us know just how difficult it was for him with his grunting and other noises of concentration. I'm sure Larry loved it.

"Okay, this next bit is going to be tricky," Pop's said suddenly.

"What?" Grimm asked in a panic. We began to drop lower and lower until we were only twenty feet from the surface of some water. Then I saw where we were headed.

There was some loading cranes and piers that lead up into a dark tunnel up ahead. A tunnel.

"Agh!" Grimm yelled as we entered the entrance, immediately engulfed in pitch black.

"Don't lose your sense of range in the darkness," Kei told the man who was beginning to get on everyone's nerves.

"What happened to the manly Grimm?" Sylvia asked tauntingly. "I miss that guy." There wasn't any more compiling or comments in general from Grimm after that.

"I knew you could do it," Pop's said after a couple of seconds of flying through the tunnels. "You've all become excellent pilots." My pride swelled a little at the genuine comment from the seasoned fighter pilot.

"I can see the exit," Kei began as a light began to shine down into the tunnel with us. "There's the open sky on the other side!" Just as quickly as we had entered darkness coming into the cave, we entered the light as we exited. "Are we still being followed?" Kei asked as we all formed back up behind Pop's. I felt I now had a new appreciation for the wide open sky after the constricting space of the tunnel.

"I don't see anyone..." Larry said after a moment.

"Roger. Looks like we can relax a little," Kei replied. But she had spoken too soon.

"This is Thunderhead. What happened to the 8492nd? We're seeing the traitors on the radar again." Something about hearing Thunderhead calling us traitors made it real for me. We had been disavowed by our country. For winning a war.

"This is Swordsman. I just found 'em. So now I just shoot 'em down?" It had been a while since I had last heard this man speak over the radio. I now felt anger towards a man who I hardly knew.

"Exactly," Hamilton replied to the man's question. Then Pop's said something I didn't understand.

"He's not really our enemy."


	31. -Getting New Legs-

**Getting New Legs**

"What on earth do you mean?" Petra asked from her position right behind me.

"There's some kind of flashing coming from his plane," Larry remarked.

"It's a signal light," Grimm told all of us. "TRUST ME, BAIL OUT," he relayed to us. "He wants us to bail out?"

"What say we trust him them?" Pop's said. I knew he knew something that the rest of us were unknowing of, it was in his voice. For the moment, it seemed we would have to trust Pop's and Captain Snow. "Genette, you first." A second later, Pop's canopy blew out followed promptly by two ejection seats. Then, a missile came speeding between us all and blew up the empty plane.

"Swordsman to Thunderhead. Splash one."

"Tracked on radar," Thunderhead replied. "Kill confirmed."

Kei ejected next, her and Sylvia bailing out just before a missile slammed into their empty trainer. Then it was Grimm and Larry.

"Petra, you ready to test out the parachute on your seat?"

"Do we really have to do this? Can't we just fake it? I kind of have a problem bailing out of a perfectly okay plane." As if on he was listening in, Swordsman got a lock onto our plane sending an alert sound through the head set.

"Just one left," the man with the lock on our plane said.

"This is as close as we're going to get to faking it, Petra," I told my CSO as I reached for the ejection handle. "Get ready!"

"Caden, don't you-" Petra's voice was replaced by a loud band and then rushing air as I pulled the handle of the seat, causing a controlled explosion and ejection almost simultaneously. Within seconds, my parachute deployed quickly followed by Petra's. Most everyone had already landed in the water and bright green dye was marking everyone's trails to a central spot. I aimed my parachute best I could towards the gathered group of bodies, not wanting to have to swim in the frigged water any more than necessary. Once everyone was gathered in one spot. We all began looking at Pop's expectantly, shivering as we did so.

"What?" he said once our gazes finally got to him.

"'Oh, what say we trust him, he's only got a missile lock on us, derp-dee-derr,'" Sylvia said in a jesting mood that was laden with anger. Out of all of us, she was probably shivering the most.

"Just wait a bit," Pop's reassured her, then all of us. "I had a plan for an event like this."

"You planned for this to happen?" I asked confused. "You knew we would be turned upon by our own country?"

"I knew it was a matter of time before they turned on ME, but it wasn't too difficult to shoe-horn you guy's in. Probably worked out better in the end, actually," Pop's finished with a thoughtful look.

"Why would they've turned on you?" Kei asked. Before Pop's could give an answer, we all began to hear a distant thumping.

"Looks like they had scrambled the SAR helicopter before we had even bailed out," Larry commented.

"We'll talk about this more on the Kestrel," Pop's said as he looked off towards the incoming helicopter."

"The Kestrel?" Grimm asked confused. "Why would we be taken to an Osean aircraft carrier if Osea's declared us traitors?"

"All will be revealed in due time." I glanced over at Genette who seemed to have a knowing smirk on his face but before I could ask about it, the helicopter's thumping became too loud to communicate. We were all handed ear mufflers once we were in the helicopter, but we still had no way of communicating with each other over the din of the loud transport helicopter. So we just tried to not look at each other too long while we were flown back. Once we had landed, we were all taken to the infirmary for a mandatory post-ejection check-up. They were checking for concussions, bruising, stuff like that. None of us had any complications, although Sylvia had to have three medical professionals tell her that she didn't have hypothermia before she settled down. One thing was starting to become clear the longer I looked around the boat. It was a skeleton crew. The halls were almost empty, no one walking to and fro as was typical of any naval ship. Something was up. I was about to search for someone to discuss the problem with when someone found me.

"Captain Irving?" a deeper voice called from behind me. I turned to see a dark skinned male walking towards me. He had a muscled build and was pretty tall. Taller than Chopper had been. He smiled and stuck out his hand as I turned to face him. "Captain Irving, I'm Captain Snow, Kestrels CAG. You can call me Marcus though, as I think we'll be seeing more of each other sooner rather than later."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Marcus," I told the man as I shook his hand. "So," I began, looking around the empty ship to emphasis it to the man. "What's it like when you're the only one on a carrier?"

"She is a little understaffed, isn't she," the man said with a sad smile, looking around with me. "Follow me and I'll tell you about it," he finished as he began to lead me down a hall.

It was a whole new experience for me to step over the large steal divisions between some of the hallways that would be used with the large doors attached to them in the event of flooding compartments. Almost like a mini exercise.

"So, just in case you were nervous about it, you're still going to be flight lead," Marcus said as we began to climb very steep steel stairs.

"Why would I be nervous about that?" I asked in confusion. The only thing I had been nervous about was if we were going to be put in the brig and as that hadn't happened yet, I had been fairly carefree.

"Well, I'll be joining you from now on, to..." Marcus stopped walking as he though carefully about how to say his next few choice words. "To fill the missing gap in your man-power." He looked me over to see if he had gotten around the sensitive issue all right. "I know that he can't be replaced, but I hope that I can help fill the spot he left."

"I'm sure you'll do that perfectly," I told the man with a small smile. And to think that the first time we had met, he had been insinuating my death due to inaction. Marcus began to walk again and I quickly joined back up with him.

"So, as you've already noticed, the Kestrel's a little understaffed at the moment. Just a skeleton crew to keep her running really. Because we're the last carrier Osea's got, they've sidelined us indefinitely. That, and most pilots who've launched from this carrier haven't come back," he added morosely. "But with you guys here now, that's destined to change," he added brightly with a small smile directed back at me as he lead me out a door to the flight deck. The sun was just barely peeping over the horizon and its diminishing heat only added to the chilly environment. We were far north now. Far north in December. No more swimming. Cold winds blew across the flight deck but we continued to walk towards a man who was near the front of the ship, staring out at the setting sun, the winds blowing at his dark blue trench coat.

"Captain Anderson," Marcus called out to the man over the wind. At first, the man didn't move, only continued to stare out at the sinking sun. Only after the last of the bright orb had sunk below the horizon did he turn to face us.

"Captain Snow, I see you've brought Captain Irving to the ship in one piece. I certainly do hope you were joking about that medal, however. That's much too ostentatious, even for you."

"Only a joke, sir," Marcus replied with a wistful smile.

"Glad to hear it. Why don't we go inside to finish this conversation. It gets mighty cold out here at night." We began to walk back towards the large tower near the middle of the ship. Even though the sun had just set, the sky was already dark enough to see the first few stars coming out, the frigged air and remote location giving them a sharpness that rivaled even Sand Island's view of them. Once we stepped inside, the captain turned to address me. "Captain Irving, a pleasure to finally meet you," he said as he extended his hand in greeting. "Heard only the best about you right up until the end," he continued once I had returned the shake. "I don't know how the people controlling the military are going to explain away how one of the most valued members of the Air Force just up and went traitor on everyone. Then they'll have to deal with your deaths."

"So we're dead to the public?" I asked in clarification.

"Thanks to yours truly," Marcus said, a small smile forming on his face.

"I think being dead will work out better than you think," Capitan Anderson said after a small moment. "Any way's, I'm sure you and your squadron are starving. The mess hall is two floors down and forward from here. Just follow the arrows on the walls and you'll be fine."

"Thank you sir," I said shaking his hand again before he walked off and up some more stairs.

"Well, I'll let you go eat," Marcus said turning to me. "I'll see you again tomorrow." With that, he turned and began walking towards a set of stairs that went down. I stood there for a moment more. This ship was a damn maze. I looked around to try and find a sign or something but there were only long corridors and stairs.

"'two floors down and forward'," I repeated as I began to head for a set of stairs. They took me down one level before ending. I began to walk forward from where I had been and then found another pair of stairs. Only this one didn't let off at the next floor. They went down three. "Great," I murmured as I began to search for another way back up. Ten minutes later, I was only more lost and in a less happy mood. In my frustration, I did the most idiotic thing my angry brain could come up with. I kicked a steel partition.

"DAMMIT!" I yelled out as I hopped off my hurt foot.

"Caden?" a woman asked from somewhere close. A moment, later, Kei popped her head out from around a corner. "Caden what are you- did you just kick something?"

"It's not my fault!" I yelled in frustration and embarrassment.

"If you kicked something, you had to do it consciously," Kei retorted with a face that told me she was disappointed in my lame defense.

"It's this ship. You can't go where you want to without having ESP."

"Oh, sure. Blame your injury on the ship instead of admitting your lost and angry."

"I'm lost and angry," I told her, just starting to cool off. "But it's still the ships fault."

"Well, at least we're progressing," Kei said to no one in particular with a coy smile on her face. "Here, I just happen to know where the mess hall is from here and I think some food may calm you down."

"Of course she knows where it is," I mumbled under my breath. Though, it wasn't soft enough because I received a punch in the arm. We had been walking for a few seconds before Kei spoke up again.

"So, you hear that we're officially dead now?"

"Yeah," I replied nodding my head. "It feels different than I expected," I joked.

"Same here. Though, there is one thing that I knew would happen that's lived up to expectations."

"What's that? An evil labyrinth?"

"No," Kei said laughing a little. "I'm here with you." I remained silent for a moment as we continued to walk.

"Won't your dad get worried?" I asked after a while. "They're bound to send him a letter or something."

"Part of me thinks he still knows I'm alive. He's always doubted everything that comes from an Osean's mouth until he confirms it himself. Made growing up with him pretty interesting."

"Sure sounds like it," I replied as we rounded another corner and came into a large room with many tables and a serving line. "Finally," I sighed as I rushed towards the beginning of the line.

"Oh, that's cool," Kei said sarcastically from behind me.

"I was just getting up here so fast," I began, trying to recover, "Because I wanted to save you a spot. In front of me. Because you were so nice for leading me here."

"Right," Kei said as she took her place before of me. Once we had our food, there was the tall order of choosing a place to sit. There were no windows so our first preference was a no go. There were plenty of secluded corners though. Neither of us liked to be interrupted when we ate, except when it was the other one of us doing the interrupting.

"How about there," I said pointing to a particularly well hidden secluded corner.

"Perfect," Kei said with a grin as we walked towards our selected spot. From here, we could see the rest of the room with relative ease but people would have to seek us out rather thoroughly if we were to be found. A couple of minutes into our meal, Grimm and Sylvia showed up. They seemed to look around the room to see if they could spot any familiar faces. I was about to reveal Kei and I to him so they would have some friends to sit by, but before I could do much, Kei grabbed my hand.

"Wait," she told me as I shot her a confused gaze. I looked back towards Grimm and Sylvia to see them now walking off with their food to their own secluded corner.

"How did you-" I began, wondering just how Kei had been keen to Grimm's interest in her CSO.

"I'm pretty sure they've been a thing for a while. Luck had its role in bringing them to the same squadron." I began to think of a conversation I had with Grimm a while back about how his, 'prior engagement,' when we were in Oured. He had said she was a CSO in training and was due to be assigned soon. Luck indeed. "You know," Kei began again in a voice that told me whatever she was about to talk about, she had been thinking about beforehand. "You've never really asked about my family." Suddenly, sitting in a secluded corner didn't sound like such a good idea anymore. I wasn't sure how to proceed. I had never really pried into Kei's family life because even now with all the mutual trust in each other we had, I still got the feeling that it was sensitive stuff. But now, looking back at it, she might think I was disinterested. Maybe a subject change would work.

"Did you know I prefer green apples over red?"

"Caden," Kei said un-amused. Right. Subject changes didn't work with Kei.

"Look, it's not that I'm not interested, on the contrary, I'm very interested. There's so many questions I have but I guess that's the problem. From the little you've told me yourself, I get the feeling that your family life is sensitive stuff. I don't want to bring that up if it's going to get you down." Kei just looked at me as I spoke to her, no emotions betraying how she felt. She remained quiet for a few seconds and I began to worry that even what had been said so far had been too much.

"I got that feeling with Whitney," Kei began, her voice even. I could tell she was trying, very hard, to speak without emotion, in fear of losing control of it. "But you were able to get through that. I'm not going to promise you that it's going to be as easy for me as it was for you, but I would like to at least start and try." She looked back down to her half eaten bowl of soup.

"If you're willing to try," I began, touching her hand and then holding it to get her attention, "Then let's do it." She looked back up to me with a faint smile and nodded. We finished up the rest of our meal in silence. When we got up to return our dishes, we made sure Grimm and Sylvia knew we saw them. Together. Alone. Grimm blushed but Sylvia's change in color was much more apparent.

"So," Kei began as we entered the hallway outside of the mess hall. "Did you get your room assignment?"

"No, did you?"

"Yeah, I even checked it out already. It's pretty cramped but in a weird way cozy. At least, now it is. Ask me in a month and I'll probably be sick of it."

"Hopefully we'll be done before a month," I replied.

"I remember thinking that a month ago," Kei said quietly. "Caden, what if this isn't some quick war?" Kei stopped walking and looked at me with eyes that were beginning to swirl with emotion. "What if we're in another long one like the Osean War? We've been lucky so far. But look at where we are. It's only going to be a matter of time before we are killed for real," she finished, tears coming down her cheeks.

"We can't think that way, Kei," I said softly, yet as firmly as I could. "If we do, then this war is already lost."

"But if we lose and the war ends faster, is it worth it?" Kei asked seriously. My stomach dropped out from under me. Kei realized what she said a moment later. "Caden, I-"

"Kei, I realize that you don't want me or anyone else to die in this pointless war. But the only way this war is ending now that we know who's behind it is by revealing that fact to everyone else. The only other option is for Belka to continue to pit us against Yuktobania until one of us bleeds dry. Losing isn't an option, and it certainly isn't the faster one."

"I'm sorry Caden," Kei said wiping her eyes. "Your right and I know that. It's just, it's getting to me. I just keep thinking about what it could be like when this war ends and it's so much better than what it is now. Sometimes I just think about the quickest route to that reality without really thinking about how we get there." She took a deep breath and shook her head to clear it. "Guy, I could really use some sleep. Why don't you go and find someone who can tell you where your bunk is. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You sure you don't want me to walk you to your room?"

"Caden, I don't think there's anyone here who will mug me on my way to my bed. But thanks for the offer. I'm just really tired and could use some time to think, alone. At least for now." She sighed a little as I shook my head in understanding. "Tell you what, tomorrow, I can start to tell you about my family."

"Now I'm going to have problems sleeping," I told Kei with a small grin. She just nodded and began to walk away. Now I needed to find someone to show me where my sleeping quarters were. I began to walk around aimlessly, not caring if I got lost at all. In fact, it was my partial objective to do so. I believed that once I was lost, I would have a greater chance of running into someone who could show me a path to a person I would need to see.

"Hey there, Caden," a familiar voice said. "Been wondering where you wondered off to."

"Hey Petra," I replied as the woman walked over to me. "Would you happen to know where we are?"

"Not a clue," she replied quickly. "Figured I'd walk around, get lost, and therefore increase my odds of finding someone who knows the ins and outs of this ship better than I do. Are you that person?"

"You're serious?" I asked, more towards her logic of finding a guide that was exactly the same as mine than whether she thought I would be a good guide.

"Well, if you do know how to get around, I would be most grateful," the woman began.

"No, not that," I told her, cutting her off abruptly. "Your thinking about finding someone to guide you is exactly the same as mine."

"Weird," Petra said with a smile. Suddenly, she yawned widely. "Shoot, I'm tired," she said immediately after she closed her mouth.

"Tell me about it," I replied as I rubbed my eyes. "Right now, I'd settle for anything soft to sleep on."

"How about me and you look for someone to get us to some beds?" Petra suggested. "We can keep each other up and conscious until then."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," I replied as she nodded and began to walk down a corridor.

We never found anyone. It truly was a skeleton crew. We did find a rec room with a single couch though. After two minutes of trying to give the couch to each other, we decided half and half. Almost as soon as I was seated, I drifted off, content to just have something soft to rest on.

**.oOo.**

"Your final sortie... it's almost kinda sad, huh?" the young man said over the radio.

"Almost," I replied.

"All right," the man continued. "Launch preparations complete. Good luck out there Razgriz!" I didn't reply, I was in too much of a hurry. I needed to get somewhere fast. It was important. I pushed the throttle as far as it would go waiting impatiently as the plane gathered momentum. As soon as I was at minimum take off speed, I pulled up, separating from the ground.

"Nice of you to join me, Kid."

"We've got to hurry, Chopper, there's no time to talk."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I suddenly felt like I should've let him talk. But it's too late now because there's a bunch of planes coming at us.

"Hey you two, figured you could use some back up. I've got Grimm with me," Kei said as she joined up on my wing. I knew I needed to say something, but I didn't know what to say, or even how to talk. I felt horrible because I knew everyone needed to hear what it was I had to say but I just couldn't will my mouth to work hard enough. Then the sky filled up with horrible red beams of light from every direction. Loud humming to nearer and nearer.

Chopper was the first to go down. His plane was cut piece by piece by the lights. He was still screaming as his plane hit the ground. I couldn't save him. I couldn't even avenge him, the planes we were fighting would just swoosh out of lock as soon as they were in it, turning at impossible rates. The planes that didn't turn away just absorbed the missiles and bullets aimed at them as if they were air itself.

Grimm was next. His plane was hit by some kind of huge falling object. The enemy was all over us now.

"Blaze," Kei called out over the radio. "Why did you let them die? What kind of captain are you?" I tried to talk again, but no sound would come to my throat. "I vowed to myself that I would never lose another flight lead... but I can't protect someone who only looks out for them-selves." Kei's plane was then sliced by a red beam. Then the planes were gone and I was left alone. I tried to move my plane but it wasn't responding. It was diving straight for the ocean. I tried ejecting but the plane just kept heading for the ocean. Then it was in the water. There was the Scinfaxi. It was moving so fast and trying to hit me, but it always would miss by a hair's breath. Then a crack appeared on my cockpit. Water soon rushed in and began to drown me in my restrained seat. I couldn't see and couldn't breathe.

**.oOo.**

I flung myself off the couch with a large burst of speed chilling my sweat soaked shirt and making it stick to my perspiring body. I took large, shaky breaths and swallowed a couple of times. I dared not try and go to sleep again in fear of what could be waiting for me in my subconscious mind. I needed a distraction to keep me from thinking about what I had just dreamed. I needed to talk to someone. Petra was gone from last night, however, and I had no one to talk to. That changed when Kei showed up a moment later.

"You have impeccable timing," I said, wiping my brow.

"Looks like someone had a rough night. Did you find the booze instead of a residence?" she asked with a smirk.

"No just bad dreams for me," I replied. I didn't like these new dreams. Hopefully, they were just from a long, stressful day, a new, albeit temporary, sleeping arrangement, and being dog tired. But something was telling me my subconscious torment was far from over.


	32. -Presidential Predicament-

**Presidential Predicament**

"Want to share?" Kei asked innocently with a small reassuring smile as she walked closer. As she sat down on the couch right beside me, I began to contemplate her offer.. I really needed to share what I had just dreamed, but right now didn't seem like the right time.

"Maybe later," I said as I took her hand and patted it. "Right now, I just really want a space to call my own. Kei looked me over for a moment, seeming to think if she would accept my rain check.

"Alright," she said after a few more moments. "But don't think I'll forget to ask you later."

"Wouldn't put it past you," I replied as I stood up. We began to walk and talk idly as I searched for someone who could show me my quarters or direct me to someone who could. We ended up coming into the carriers' hangar area. All that were left inside the bay were aging F-14's. A familiar voice came from my right and caused Kei and I both to jump despite its non-threatening tone.

"All the F-18 pilots were shot down. Even our four member F-35 squad didn't come back. Those Tomcat's are all we've got left. They may be old, but in the right hands, they're just as deadly as Raptors."

"Captain Snow," I said as I turned to face the man, trying to regain some of my composure. I could tell by the depressed tone in the man's voice that the losses of the aircraft meant a lot more than a few missing planes. Seeing the man's crestfallen face just reinforced what I had heard. The man seemed to realize his dismal mood and immediately put up a convincing facade of normalcy.

"Sorry about that. Story for another time maybe. How was your first night at sea?" the man said as he turned to face Kei and me more directly.

"Well, I can't say it was my most enjoyable," I admitted.

"Oh, sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"He couldn't find a proper sleeping area," Kei told the man for me. Marcus looked between the two of us and then I began to catch on to what he was thinking. It wasn't what had happened.

"What my wing mate meant to say," I quickly sputtered, emphasizing wing mate to get a point across. "Was that I didn't find my assigned sleeping quarters." That didn't work either. "So I slept on a couch." Almost. "In the rec room." Okay, that cleared things up.

"I see," Marcus said nodding his head. Kei was giving me a sideways look until her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I found my sleeping quarters quite alright," she added as she looked towards the dark skinned man with large eyes. "And went to bed quite early."

"I don't see why I would need to know that," Marcus said, clearly having some fun with us now. "But thank you for filling me in on your sleeping habits, Captain Nagase. Captain Irving, I think I can show you your assigned sleeping quarters now, if you would like. Or maybe you would like to continue your walk with your wing mate." I cleared my throat and straightened my shirt which now seemed too messy. Marcus's grin only got larger.

"That would be most appreciated." Without further commotion, I walked off with Marcus as Kei found a very interesting spot on the wall that needed some attention. Once we were down a couple of halls, Marcus turned back towards me with a grin still on his face.

"You know," he began, "you're officially dead to the military."

"So I've heard," I replied. I had been wondering what all the implications of that truly meant and I had a feeling my new tour guide would be enlightening me a little. Marcus just nodded his head and turned down another corridor. I already had no idea if we were heading forwards, back, or to either side. Hell, I didn't even know the difference between starboard and port. We stopped by a medical room where my stuff was still lying on the ground. It wasn't much. Actually, it was only one change of clothes that some of the medical staff had scrounged up for me. All my personal belongs were still back at Sand Island, probably being picked over by some investigation crew. My train of thought was pulled back from the darkness as Marcus spoke up again.

"You know that means that you don't have to worry about some of the military's policies, right?" Marcus continued with a slight teasing tone in his voice. Where was he going with this?

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked plainly, not trying to hide my confusion.

"Well, let's just say that for the time being, you and the remnants of Wardog are like a mercenary squadron that's being covertly employed by a rouge faction of the Osean Navy. That means that, for all intents and purposes, you are like a boss of a private company that gets all of its resources from the military. For free. In return for a service, in this case, you're flying. And you get to make up the rules for your mercenary squadron. And-"

"You're starting to lose me, Snow," I told the man. What was he trying to get at? The man chuckled a little.

"It's been a while since anyone's called me that," he said quietly under his breath. "I guess what I'm trying to say," he began again, addressing me directly this time. "Is that you don't have to worry about anyone charging you of fraternization." Oh.

"Oh." We continued to walk in silence for a while. "I really did sleep on the couch in the rec room."

"Okay," Marcus said with a slight chuckle. We remained in a weird silence for the remainder of the walk to my quarters. "Here we are. I'm sure you will find everything to your liking." The man had a huge grin and was about to walk off again before he seemed to remember something. "Oh," he said as he came back towards me, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "You might like this. It's a map of the ship. I forgot to get it to you when I met you yesterday. Sorry." He gave me the paper and then walked off without another word. I quickly glanced at the paper with directions to almost every facility I would need. There was even a library!

I turned around and opened the door to my new living quarters. The first thing that popped into my head when I got a good look around the room what Kei's description of her own room. Cramped, yet somehow cozy. At least for now. I already saw another person's bags lying at the end of a bed. For a fleeting moment, I could've sworn I saw them before, but the memory was so far off and distant, I began to doubt if it was even real. My stomach decided to let me know it was time for some nutrition so I pulled out my newly acquired map and looked for the mess hall. One level up and to... port. Or starboard. Left. To the left. Damn jargon.

I had just entered the mess hall and seated myself in a more open area when Grimm joined me at my table. I decided I would tease the man just a little.

"Where's Sylvia?" I asked suggestively. Grimm just flushed a little before he recovered and shot back his own retort.

"Where's Captain Nagase?" While I understood the comeback was supposed to shut me up, I couldn't help but snicker. Even now, Grimm could only seem to use formal titles in addressing the rest of his squadron. With his comeback causing unintended consequences, Grimm began to backtrack. "Wait, uh, did I do something wrong?"

"Relax, Grimm," I said between my dying laughter. "It's just you keep addressing us with rank and everything."

"Sorry, I guess it was just how I was raised." I was suddenly very interested in hearing this story.

"Care to elaborate?" I asked as the man seated himself down with his own food. He seemed to think over my invitation before he refocused on me.

"So, you probably remember me telling everyone at that pick-nick that I was born in Belka," Grimm began softly. There weren't many people in the room but it was a ship we were eating on. Personal space was a luxury that wasn't always given and eavesdropper could happen, even unintentionally. I nodded for Grimm to continue. "My dad died before I was even one. My mom died having me, so it was really just me and my brother. My Grandpa was our caretaker for as long as I can remember. He was one of the front line soldiers on the Belken side of the Osean War. He was a strict man, but loved me and my brother in his own way. I think that's why he moved us to Osea, for me and my brother. I think he had contacts in the Belken military still and knew what was coming. Knew it wouldn't be good for us. Got us out of Belka before the Belken War started. He had a hard time accepting the fact that my brother joined in anyways. I think he was at least happy that he had joined the 'right' side. I think he became disenfranchised after his experience," Grimm said trailing off. I was riveted. It was the most I had ever heard Grimm talk about himself, ever. The young man looked up to see my face of anticipation. "What's wrong?" he asked, misreading my expression.

"It's just I never have heard you speak so openly about yourself," I replied. The man seemed to think for a moment before responding. He was always so calculated with his responses when he wasn't in a cockpit.

"I... Lieutenant Davenport... Chopper had always asked questions about my past," Grimm began, even more quiet than before, avoiding my gaze in favor of his food. "I never really spoke about it, my heritage isn't exactly something people are overjoyed to hear about." Grimm then took a calming breath and looked back into my eyes. "But this whole squadron is so different from everyone else. It doesn't seem to matter where we've come from or who we were before we got put together. We stick up for each other and that was something that I only got to experience with my brother before all this. I missed an opportunity to share with Chopper. I'm not going to miss another one." My lunch was starting to get cold but I hardly noticed. Instead of going for a playful mood with the young man, we had gone the completely opposite direction. Seeming to catch onto this fact as well, Grimm decided to course correct. "But that isn't the reason I came to see you," he began. A flushed color returned to his face and I began to predict what he had come to see me for.

"This wouldn't happen to be about Kei's CSO, would it?" I asked, glad for a change in mood. Grimm cleared his throat but held my gaze, not shying away like he had moments ago.

"Sir," he began, clearly reciting a script he had mesmerized hundreds of times before now. "I want you to know that my relationship with flight member First Lieutenant Sylvia 'Valkyrie' Solburg will in no way compromise my performance or dedication to the function of this squadron."

"Grimm-" I began, but was cut off by the young man as he continued his performance.

"Also, I feel it necessary to let you know that our relationship is beyond that of a work-only setting."

"Grimm, really I-"

"So, in keeping with Osean Air Defense Force regulation C one dash nine sub-clause four B, I hereby resign-"

"GRIMM!" the young man fell silent at last, along with the rest of the people eating in the room. I glanced around, trying to urge them with my non-existent physic powers to continue eating. By some miracle, they returned to their business so I returned my attention to Grimm. "You don't need to resign anything."

"But the regulations clearly state that-"

"We're dead to those regulations." I said simply. My wing mate got a confused look on his face. "Captain Snow had such an elegant way of putting it," I muttered to myself, trying to remember exactly what he had been trying to say. I had no doubt that the complex wording wouldn't be lost to Grimm as it was to me but I wasn't remembering anything but the dumbed down version. It would have to do. "Grimm, since we are dead to the military, we're basically not part of it and therefore don't have to follow it's plethora of rules and regulations. You and Sylvia can go be whatever you two want to be." Despite Grimm's impressive vocabulary, his response to the news was exactly the same as mine.

"Oh." I decided to give some attention back to my food while Grimm processed all the implications of the news I had just delivered. "How are the potatoes?" he asked after a while.

"Not too bad for the flake stuff."

Grimm and I hung out for the rest of the day. We went back to the rec room that Petra and I had found and started up a game of improvised ping-pong with a rubber band ball, chairs, and some hand-held signal lights with spare pieces of scrap metal tapped on them. It got quite the following with some money even exchanging hands. Once we both relinquished our hold on the crews new favorite pass time, we went our separate ways. I decided to see how things were going top side.

Up on the flight deck, there were only a couple of people in the dying light of the day. I spotted Marcus near an F-14, doing his own visual inspection of his plane as a flight crew stood by. Off near the... Starboard... right side of the boat was Captain Anderson and Pop's. They seemed to be having one of those man to man conversations. I didn't have any interest in interrupting that. I put my hands to my hips at a loss on what to do. I should've known I was just asking for her to say it.

"You look very contemplative." I smiled and turned around to face the voice that had come from behind me. "Hey," she said as I faced her.

"Hey," replied, walking to her side. She was leaning against the side of the tall tower in the middle of the ship and I took a spot right next to her, mirroring her relaxed stance.

"I was just about to come looking for you. I'm getting pretty hungry and I didn't want to eat alone."

"I thought you said you weren't worried about getting mugged," I replied with a small smirk. I was rewarded with a punch to the arm. "I was starting to miss those," I told her, receiving two more in return. "Let's go eat before my arm falls off due to abuse." More punching ensued as I began to lead the way to the dining hall.

"I see you've learned your way around the ship," Kei said as she followed me from behind, finally relenting in her blows against my arm.

"Yeah, Marcus thought it would be a good idea for me to have a map of the ship."

"Oh, you didn't have one of those?" Kei asked as we rounded a corner.

"No... Did you?"

"Oh, look the mess hall," Kei said a she rushed past me to get into line.

"Weirdo," I muttered under my breath. We both got our meals and decided to try out a more open spot this time. We wouldn't mind company if we got it. I told Kei about how my day had gone after we had been separated. I learned that Kei and Petra had fun doing their own thing for most of the day. Kei had just finished retelling her day when her face suddenly grew serious.

"So..." she began ominously. I began to freak out a little. Why was she being all serious all of the sudden?

"So," I replied, wanting her to give me a little more information. Well, maybe a lot more information.

"Is it true that... um... well... you know..." Kei's eye's fell to her food as she avoided my questioning gaze.

"I actually don't know," I told Kei as she continued to poke around her plate.

"Well, it's just... Petra talked a lot about Caribou," Kei began. My fear and worry gave way to curiosity. What was this about? "And well, she said some things. About the Caribou. And traditions hunters follow... " What... Where was this going? What did Petra say?

"What did she say hunters do?" I asked, hoping that this evasiveness would end soon.

"Well," she shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with whatever she was about to say. "Petra said that there is a legendary figure called the Caribou Master that is in charge of all the Caribou." This sounded good. "She said that he became the Caribou Master because he fell in love with a... Caribou. And married it." This sounded... "...And that one of the traditions that Caribou hunters perform-" Bad. This sounded bad.

"Hold it there," I said quickly, relieving Kei to no end. "First of all, this is the first time I've ever heard of a Caribou Master. My dad and I just liked to hunt like normal people. No rituals. I didn't even drink any blood from my first kill." Kei just stuck her nose up to the thought. As did I. People who did that were just weird. "Secondly, I'm pretty sure Petra was just messing with you. Maybe there really is some Caribou Master. Maybe the legend says he falls in love with... a... Caribou. But I doubt that people do... whatever you were about to say they do." Kei let out a large breath that she seemed to have been holding in for a couple of minutes. "You really thought-"

"I didn't know!" she said defensively. "It could've been some sacred ritual for all I knew. People north of where I was born are weird, present company excluded." I smiled after a moment and returned to eating. "What's so funny?" Kei asked when she saw my smile.

"She got you good," I replied simply.

"I'll get her better," Kei said under her breath as she resumed her meal as well. We were no more than four bites in when we were interrupted. Well, I was interrupted, and by extension, Kei.

"Captain Irving," Sylvia began. "I hate to interrupt you but-"

"You're not interrupting anything," Kei said as she pulled out a chair beside her, encouraging her CSO to eat with us. Sylvia just began to wring her hands, looking between the two of us rapidly.

"Actually," she began reluctantly. "This is more of a private conversation I should have with Captain Irving."

"Oh," Kei said, putting down her fork. She cleared her throat and got up from her spot. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow Caden." Before she could leave, however, it looked like she remembered something. "Darn it!"

"What?" Sylvia and I asked.

"I was going to talk about my family and instead we talked about... the Caribou Master."

"Oh," Sylvia and I remarked. We quickly glanced at each other before returning our gaze to Kei.

"I'll tell you about it in the morning I guess," Kei said as she picked up the rest of her meal items. "Goodnight," she called back to us as she left Sylvia and me to discuss... something. A few moments after Kei had left, Sylvia sat down in the chair Kei had pulled out.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked Kei's CSO. She continued to wring her hands like it was a form of stress relief. What she could be stressed about, however, I didn't know. She bit her lip until she was ready to speak, her frizzy red hair bobbing with every move she made.

"It's about Grimm and me," she started. Suddenly I realized what this conversation was about.

"Has Grimm talked to you-"

"Sylvia!" Grimm said from the entry of the mess hall.

"Hans?" It was strange to hear the woman use Grimm's first name. It was stranger to hear Grimm address someone without their rank.

"Sylvia, I've been looking everywhere for you."

"For me? I've been looking for you!" She suddenly seemed to remember why she had come to talk to me. "Did you talk to him," she said, nodding towards me.

"Yeah, and now I need to talk to you," Grimm replied as he continued to walk towards the woman who was sitting in front of me. She suddenly got nervous again.

"I knew it," she said solemnly. "I knew this would-" but she never got to finish her sentence. Grimm cut her off. With a kiss. Sylvia was silent once Grimm pulled away and as red as her hair. "Grimm," she said in a strained whisper. "What are you thinking?"

"Lots of things," he said quite boldly. Then turned a similar crimson. "We really should have that talk. Somewhere else. Goodnight Capitan," he said as he grabbed Sylvia's hand and led her out of the room quickly, leaving me alone at my table. Grimm was sure to have an interesting conversation.

I left the mess hall shortly after Grimm and Sylvia. I was beginning to feel very tired and I knew it would only be a matter of time before we wouldn't have garmented sleeping hours. I made my way back to my quarters. I began to wonder who the bag I had seen earlier belonged to. I would soon have my answer, it seemed. The door to the room was slightly ajar and a yellow light was pouring out of the small crack.

"Hello?" I called out as I pushed the door in some more.

"Caden?" a familiar voice replied from inside the room. In a flash, Kei was in front of me, barring access to my room. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" I countered.

"Getting ready to go to bed. Now you."

"Well, that's what I was about to say," I said slowly. "Maybe I..." I pulled out the map that Marcus had given me earlier. I must've misread it. Ten doors on the right from the corridor... eight, nine, ten... maybe I came from the wrong way...

"Let me see that," Kei said grabbing the paper from my hand. She went back into her room and pulled out a slip of paper from her bag. An awfully familiar bag. With another awfully familiar bag on the bed next to it. "This can't be right," Kei said comparing the two maps. "Captain Snow must've given you the wrong map.

"Yeah..." I replied, still looking at my bag. But if he led me to this room without using the map...

"Let's go see if we can't get this sorted out," Kei said as she walked back into the room and grabbed a pair of socks and put on her boots.

"Yeah..." I said again, still not taking my eyes off the bag. Did he-

"Come on," Kei said grabbing my arm. Luckily, Marcus had been insightful enough to put his quarters on the map so we could find him. Once we got to the door of his room, Kei wasted no time in knocking three times. Then three more times. After nine knocks, the door opened and Marcus stepped out looking a little tired.

"Yes?" he asked as he looked down at Kei and then at me and then at the maps in Kei's hands. "Oh." What was with that word?

"Care to give Caden the right map?" she asked as she handed back one of the pieces of paper.

"Right," he said taking the offered item. "I'll get right on that." He stepped back into the room and closed the door. There were some walking noises and then the door opened again. "Sorry about that," he said giving the new piece of paper to me.

"It's fine," Kei replied. "Just glad we could get it sorted out." Marcus just nodded his head and smiled as he closed the door again. I took a look at my new... the same map.

"Um... Kei?" She had been about to walk back to her room but came back at my beckoning. She looked down at the map, scowled, looked at her own, and then walked back up to Captain Snow's door and knocked. Only five this time.

"Yes?" Snow looked at Kei and feigned a surprised look. "Oh, you again." Kei just put the map back in his hands.

"Give him the right one. Please."

"Oh, right," Marcus said nodding his head as if remembering something. "The right one. Here you go Caden," the man said, stepping around Kei and handing me the map she had just handed him. She seemed to be getting it now. "You two have fun now," he said as he shut his door. Kei just looked at it as if Marcus was about to come out and say, 'kidding' any moment. Any... moment...

"Kei," I said after a couple of seconds. After she didn't respond I reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Kei?"

"I think we have the same room."

"..."

"Caden?"

"Yes, it looks that way."

"Will that be a problem?"

"Well... we've shared a bed before- OW!"

"Will that be a problem." It was a statement now.

"I don't know. Will it?"

"No." She began to walk off towards her... our room without another word. Maybe Grimm could- "Caden? Are you coming?"

"Yes," I called after her. I walked towards the room again, this time entering without Kei holding me back. I didn't know what to do after I got into the room. Usually, I stripped down to my boxers and jumped into bed. Usually, most guys would be delighted to share a bedroom with their girlfriend. Why did it feel so awkward? I elected to just crawl into bed. There were actually twelve beds in the room. Six on each side, three right on top of each other. Kei was sleeping next to the door on the left side on the middle bunk. Maybe a little distance would relieve some of the... whatever was going on. I got to the far side of the room, bottom most bunk on the right side and laid down. And pulled back the privacy curtain.

I moved around on the bed to try and get comfortable and eventually settled on my side facing towards the middle of the room. Once my movement stopped, I heard someone else's. Kei sighed quite audibly and then I heard her grab something. A couple of seconds later, I heard an object, most likely her bag, hit the ground near me. Then I heard her climb into the bed above mine.

"We'll work out a changing schedule tomorrow," she said after a couple of moments. "I know that isn't how you normally go to bed."

"Do you now," I replied after a beat, a small smile on my face.

"I distinctly remember you flinging open a door with nothing but your underwear on to great me one evening."

"That wasn't on purpose," I quickly replied. "That seems so long ago," I said a moment later. We were quiet for a few more moments before the lights in the room automatically dimmed on their timer. I began to think Kei had gone to sleep and was just getting ready to do the same when she spoke up.

"Caden?"

"Yeah?"

"I know it's late, but, if you want, I can still tell you a little about my family."

"Only if you're ready," I replied. She was quiet for few more moments.

"My mom always cooked on Sunday evenings. Usually, it was my dad who made our meals, but on Sunday evenings, my mother was in charge of the kitchen. My father and I would do something outside while she cooked. She always said she needed the house empty so she could concentrate. Most of the time, we would sit on these swings at a park right by our house until mom came to get us." Kei was quiet for a while again and I thought she had finished. "When I was six, mom stopped cooking on Sundays. She got really sick, cancer." Her voice wavered slightly but she continued just the same. "We ended up moving to Osea so she could go to a better hospital. She fought it for a long time, but died a few months later. When the war started back up, Larry came by. I guess he convinced my dad to take up the job for the war. Dad left me with some of my mom's relatives in the small part Ustio that was still... Ustian, I guess. I got to see him between some of his deployments so it wasn't all bad." Kei sighed after a moment. "You still awake?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"My mom, before she died, gave me that book, A Blue Dove for the Princess. I also found out that she wrote me letters. One for each birthday up to my eighteenth. Dad gave them to me on each one and they were always my favorite gift," she got quiet again.

"What were they about?" I asked, a little curious about what the letters contained.

"Oh, this and that. Things that a mom would tell her daughter at those ages."

"Hm," I hummed in acknowledgment. We were quiet for a bit longer before Kei spoke up again.

"Goodnight Caden."

"Goodnight," I replied.

We eventually did work out a changing routine and our sleeping routines became somewhat normalized. It was still a little strange to be sharing a room with someone I viewed with a romantic interest, but we trusted each other enough to know nothing would get out of hand, we kept it kosher. It was on the 9th that we were finally called into a briefing room. When we entered the room, I was surprised to see Pop's at the center. Once everyone was seated, he began to speak.

"Alright. If there aren't any objections, I'll take command of air operation briefings." I glanced around the room and saw that Captain Anderson was even sitting in and nodded his head in approval to continue. With a curt nod, Pop's did just that.

"We're launching a rescue operation for the President of Osea within the Principality of Belka." Kei sat up beside me and I couldn't help but have the same reaction. When did we learn where he was? How long had he been in Belka? "The communications intelligence ship Andromeda received information that President Harling is being held in Belka," Pop's continued answering my questions. "The location is an old castle, positioned on the southern edge of the borders between Belka and North Osea. Sea Goblin, our helicopter squadron, will handle the direct rescue effort. After securing the area, the Helicopter will descend on the castle and drop our infiltrating rescue squad. Sea Goblin will stay on station while the rescue is taking place in the castle on the ground.

"Your mission is to provide air support for the Sea Goblin's rescue operation and destroy any opposing enemy forces." Pop's looked around the room to see if there were any questions. "I know you all don't have much experience with carrier landings, so it is vital that you listen to any instructions given to you." Pop's got a grim smile on his face. "A trial by fire, of sorts. If there aren't any questions, you're to launch a soon as possible. Let's not keep the president waiting. Or Sea Goblin for that matter. They've launched about an hour ago so you've got some catching up to do. Dismissed." We all began to get up and salute as was customary, but Pop's spoke up again. "Don't. No. Just go get to your planes." I smiled a bit as we all got to our fighter jets.

"Oh, this'll be a good one," Petra said as she came up to my side as we walked towards the hangar. "It's been my dream to fly in an F-14 since forever." I hadn't seen much of my CSO as of late. In fact, I hadn't seen her before Kei told me of her prank. Seeming to realize this fact herself, she began to quiet down her chipper attitude.

"I think I know why you miss Caribou hunting so much now," I said simply as I began to put on my flight gear and climb into our plane. Petra just cleared her throat as she joined me in the cockpit.

"You know that was just a joke right? No one does that," she said nervously.

"I'd just be on the lookout if I were you," I replied as I began to check the instrument panels. I would have to request some practice flight time in this plane later to get more used to it.

"Crap," Petra said quietly as I maneuvered our plane to the elevator platform.

"Raising pressure... 70, 80, 90..." someone over the headset began. Our plane and elevator stopped on the flight deck. "We're good to go Sir! Ready to launch anytime." Capitan Snow's plane suddenly lurched and was flung off the end of the carrier. "Takeoff complete. Next craft begin takeoff procedure." I pressed the throttle forward just enough to get us lined up with the catapult. "Catapult one raising pressure. 80, 90... We're in the green zone. Check catapults... Raise the Barriers!" a large section of the landing deck began to come up behind me. "Ready to launch sir!" I pushed the throttle up to max and large plumes of fire began to trail behind me as the plane shook. Then we were off and hurtling towards the ocean. I made sure to keep my hands off the flight controls until we were off the ship completely. I then pulled back up into the sky to rejoin with it once again. The rest of my flight joined up with me and we made our heading towards the mission area.

"Think you can fly this mission without shooting us down, Captain Snow?" I asked jokingly.

"I'll try my hardest," the man replied with a small hint of laughter behind his voice. It felt good to release some of the pre-mission jitters with little jokes, but everyone knew that this next mission was going to be deceptively simple. The Belken's weren't just going to give up the president all willy-nilly. We all knew this upcoming mission would be a tough one.


	33. -Forging a Demon-

**Forging a Demon**

As we got closer to our operation area, the environment outside our canopies began to closer reflect the Belken heart; cold and unforgiving. We finally got a radar signature of Sea Goblin and I knew it was time for the operation to begin.

"Captain Snow, I'll be at your six," Grimm told the other pilot. "It's good to be flying with you, Sir."

"It's been a long time since I've flown in formation..." Marcus replied, a thoughtful tone in his voice.

"Back in the first battle after the war began, Chopper, that is, Captain Davenport, told me you yelled at him for getting in your way. I was still sitting reserve back then..." Grimm's comment pulled me back to memory lane, where I was still known as Wardog 4, what Grimm was now. In fact, it was on that day that Grimm was talking about that I had started leading this squadron.

"This is Pop's on board the Kestrel, do you read me? You guys should have sight of the castle by now. Sea Goblin's gonna descend for an insertion, so can you take out the air defense batteries for them?"

"Let's get on it. I don't want to be here any longer that I have to," I told the rest of the people flying with me. I began to push my throttle forwards to put some distance between Sea Goblin and me.

"You can say that again," Sylvia muttered into the radio.

"This is Sea Goblin, is Captain Nagase there?"

"Yeah," she Kei replied before adding, "Your team rescued me from that mountain in the snowstorm."

"The helicopter ride was pretty comfy, eh?" There wasn't a response from Kei and for a moment, I began to wonder why. My thoughts were cut short as the helicopter continued transmitting. "Hey, you ever wanna transfer here, lemme know." No sooner had the transmission ended when I began hearing a poorly executed attempt at muffling a chuckle. That too was cut short by the next transmission. 'Hey, what happened to that motormouth? He's real quiet today." These guys's must really be out of the loop out here all by themselves.

"He... he's... not here," Kei replied somberly. Seeming to catch that the subject about the 'motormouth' was a sensitive one, the helicopter crew ceased their chatter. We flew over one of the large nuclear crater right before entering the airspace. It sent chills down my spine and by some of the sharp breaths I could hear over the radio, I wasn't the only one who was being affected by them.

"This is what the end of the world must look like," Kei said softly. "Even the air over these lands is heavy from the memories of Belka." My HUD suddenly became populated by hexagonal target indicators for the Anti-Aircraft guns located around the castle.

"Flight, engage," I called out, unsure what to call ourselves. With Wardog technically KIA, and with Snow being from a totally different squadron all together, we were sort of a hodge-podge. As we closed in on the castle, the encampments began firing glowing streams of light at us, causing us to dodge up and down and to either side. I began to head for one on the far side of the castle near a gate looking structure. I started up about a thousand feet above the turret, but dove down to be level with it as soon as it opened fire. Within seconds, I was within firing range for my guns and let them have some 'anti-ground' fire. A couple more repeat performances and Nagase decided to let the helicopter know what was up.

"All anti-aircraft fire suppressed. We'll continue to protect Sea Goblin and infiltration forces." As a response, the helicopter began to move forward from its loitering spot about a mile away. Once they were within range, they spoke up.

"Nixie, you guys drop first and take up an over watch position of the area." The helicopter began to drop into the front courtyard of the large castle and as they did, Petra gave a worrying sound.

"Um..."

"What? What do you have, Pixy?"

"What are you talking- oh, that wasn't for me. Never mind," Larry said.

"Well..." Petra began, taking Larry's interruption in stride. But before anymore could come from her, Sea Goblin decided to let me know themselves.

"An enemy ground force unit is mobilizing reinforcements."

"Roger," Pop's said over the radio. I was still getting used to hearing his voice instead of Thunderhead's. "Intercept the reinforcements and keep them from getting to the fight. I'm counting on you."

"Got it," I told the man as I pulled back up to an altitude of 5000 feet. Petra diligently began putting targets up in front of me.

"Enemy tanks also emerging from points around the castle," Grimm said in a slightly awed voice. "I wonder what else they've got protecting this place..."

"Let's get this done with before we have to find out," Sylvia said quickly.

"I'm with the ginger," Larry joked. There was a tense silence for a moment before Snow spoke up.

"Ouch. Tough crowd."

"Tell me about it," Larry responded as I began to dive for my first batch of enemies. It was a column of tanks, three of them, heading for the north entrance of the castle. I got into a parallel position behind them so I could perform an easy gun run. I was about two hundred feet off the ground when I opened fire. The snow and trees below were lit up with golden light as the bright flashes from my cannon lit up the area. Rounds began to destroy the vehicles ahead of me and I pulled up and away once the last tank was out of commission. When I pulled up, I saw that the other three F-14's were flying low and slow as well, their wings extended out as far as they would go. Snow's plane suddenly began spewing a long tongue of fire down towards the ground before flashing back up to a higher position as I had. The radio suddenly cracked to life with a transmission from one of the ground forces inside the castle.

"Man, it's pitch black in hear... Hey! Don't step on the stone floor, it'll echo!" he softly scolded.

Another solider then added in the same quiet tone, "Let there be light. Hey, Barry, you know who I just quoted?"

"God," the man said flatly. "God, you're such a dumb ass."

The first man then thoughtfully added, "The stone structures inside this castle are quite impressive. Though, it feels like there's more than just our enemies lurking in this place."

"Blaze," Petra called out from behind me. "I've got a new battle formation of tanks crossing a field from the north east."

"Copy that, let's take them out." I dove down towards the area and saw a group of five tanks closing in on an eastern entrance to the castle I dove down in a strafing run and took out the front row of the formation. Suddenly, one of the two remaining vehicles began firing up at me. "Shit!" I cried out as I hear two thunks before I got out of range.

"Blaze, are you alright?" Snow asked in concerned voice. I began to swivel my head around to try and get a good view of my plane, but I could only see the nose and the edges of the wingtips.

"Petra, check out the plane for me okay? Swordsman, I'm still flying but the exact extent of damage to my craft is unknown. I think I heard two impacts but I can't confirm at this time." Suddenly, there was a large roar off to my right as Kei pulled up beside me.

"This is edge. It looks like you've got two glancing blows to your vertical stabilizers. Are your yaw controls still responsive?" I quickly tested the pedals. They were definitely a little slower to the draw, but my heading was still changing.

"Sluggish, but still responsive," I called out.

"Copy that, take it easy. These tanks have almost had it anyways."

"You guys just keep a sharp eye," I replied as Kei went back on her way towards the ground for mopping up the rest of the tanks that were diminishing in number. "They've got some anti-air vehicles among some of those tanks."

"Copy that Captain," Grimm replied. "Thanks for the heads up." I suddenly heard another transmission from the ground team in the castle.

"Man look at all these rooms. Do we have to search every one of them?"

"Yup, every one. What a pain," another one responded.

"Wouldn't it be faster to capture an enemy solider and grill him?" For a moment, I sat in expectation to hear some stupid joke about cannibalism from Chopper, but then I realized that nothing would be said. I took a sad look back towards the charred ground a couple of miles away. There was too much hate in the world. Then I saw a wake in the water near the castle that was approaching the helicopter.

"Sea Goblin, look out below!" I shouted as I began to dive towards the position of the boat in the water.

"Crap! Brace for evasive maneuvers!" the pilot said as the helicopter suddenly swung around to hide behind the castle. "Winston! What are you doing over there? Sleeping! I thought I told you to keep an eye on the water!" I was on scene and took a shot at the boat with my cannon, quickly putting an end to the threat. "Thanks for that, Blaze," the helicopter pilot told me as they retook their position to avoid any pop shots from approaching tanks."

"The road's blocked by burning vehicles," one of the Belken tank commanders shouted. "We'll all be wiped out before we reach the castle! Where's our air support?" Air support? As if summoned by the mere words, Kei spoke up in a concerned tone.

"I've got multiple hits on my radar. Enemy aircraft inbound."

"Fighter jets?" Pop's said, mirroring Kei's tone. "Don't tell me they've got their own fighter jets too."

"That's affirmative," Kei said dismally. "They're definitely fighters." I looked down at my own search screen and saw only two blips that Kei was speaking of. But they only needed to be two in order for me to be frightened. They were moving quickly but that wasn't what was giving them away as fighters. Their signatures were soft and sometimes faded from radar. Fast moving and stealthy. Great.

"Guess they used the money from Osea and Yuktobania to supply their own forces," Pop's said with a sigh. "Just protect that helicopter." I began to search the sky for any glimmer or shine of light from a canopy or flashing metal. Suddenly, combat broke over the radio. The ground forces inside the castle were finally being engaged.

"Geez, a gunfight with just a banquet table between us!" one of the soldiers said.

"What?!" one of the other ground troops said in mock outrage and real panic mixed in. "They didn't prepare any dinner for us?!"

"We've got glass falling from the ceiling!" one of the soldiers called out "Dammit! Is the President safe?"

"Are you sure our ground forces will be all right?" someone on board the helicopter asked.

"We just gotta trust them and wait. That's part of the job," the man replied, no real emotion in his voice.

"From what I'm hearing on the radio, it seems like they're in trouble," the first man said.

"That's because all you're hearing is radio transmissions from our side," the second man replied, an emotion coming into his voice now, but one of slight annoyance. I suddenly spotted my first fighter, and it wasn't what I had been expecting. It was an F-23, and once I got a good, hard, look at it, I saw it was painted white to match the backdrop of snow. It would be torture to keep my eyes locked onto this plane.

"I just got a visual on one the fighters," I called out. "They're two F-23's. Be careful, they're painted to match the terrain."

"That's not good," Larry said under his breath. "Looks like they've moved on from their ostentatiously colorful paint schemes." he remarked. I began to pursue the plane I had spotted. "Petra, can you get any harder of a lock on this guy?" I asked. My lock on box was always drifting just around the plane, never managing to stay solid for more than a second.

"I'm not sure," she replied truthfully. "I'll try, but I can't promise much." I began to pursue the target with more gusto, trying to close in for gun range. Thankfully, it was a widow. While it may be stealthier than a raptor, it was a tad less maneuverable due to its fixed exhaust. But the pilot behind the controls was what really mattered in this fight. It was obvious that the Belken was complacent, believing he was untouchable in his fancy plane. I decided to teach a deadly lesson. As he began to initiate a sharp turn, I threw him for a loop by circling the other way. I quickly searched for his elusive plane again when Petra spoke up quickly.

"Dead ahead, belly to us," she said helpfully. I quickly saw the outline of the plane by dropping a little lower and seeing the stark contrast of the white plane against the blue sky. I popped back up and shot the plane without waiting for my lock on radar to give away my position.

"One enemy fighter down," I reported as I got to a higher altitude again.

"Who are these pilots?" the other Belken finally asked. I grinned to myself. We had gotten these planes from a captured freighter that had been trying to smuggle aircraft to Yuktobania. There were no markings on the planes which was just fine for us but it was clearly starting to perplex our enemy.

"We've picked up the President! I repeat, we've got the President!" our ground forces announced proudly over the radio as gunfire continued in the background. I took a small moment to revel in victory before the man on the radio spoke up again with less than pleasant news. "But we can't blow this wall with the explosives we brought with us and there is no way we can go back the way we came." There was a moment of thoughtful silence before Pop's spoke up with new instructions.

"We're going to destroy the wall and get the infiltration team out of there, got it?"

"Copy," Petra said for me as I saw another glint in the distance.

"The area to be destroyed will be displayed on your HUD. Aim carefully."

"Got that Blaze?" Petra asked from behind me as I circled back towards the castle, ignoring the other F-23 for the moment. Right now, the ground forces weren't being harassed by the plane and they were the ones who needed help. Petra quickly highlighted a section of the castle on my HUD and I quickly shot some cannon rounds at the location.

"Holy..." one of the ground forces said. "Well, that just cleared out the hall. Okay people, let's get the president on board and get on out of here." I returned my attention back to the area where the other and final fighter was, but it was no longer there. I began to panic and search my screen, but there was nothing to help me out. I felt like I was trapped in one of those bad shark movies where the sharks fin was always behind the B rate actor. Dread was chief among my emotions.

"The President's strapped in. Hurry up and leave the area! The enemy's gonna be here any moment!"

"Sea Goblin," Kei began a she joined up by me about half a mile from the helicopter. "We'll take on the last enemy plane. Just get the president out of here." The rest of my flight also began forming up with the two of us. We were all still on high alert though. There was one Belken ace still in the air with us.

"We're defenseless in the air. We're counting on you!" the helicopter replied.

"Is that you?" a familiar voice asked. It was from so long ago that it seemed like I only remembered it from a dream. "The lady with the pretty voice? Are you there too?" It was true she had a pretty voice... I couldn't be mad at him about that. Kei elected not to respond, we were still too busy trying to find the last fighter. "So," the president continued as if he had never asked the question to Kei. "Anderson's realized what's going on behind the scenes too, right?" Then I saw it. The plane was coming straight at us.

"BREAK! BREAK!" I shouted out. Immediately, our flight shot off in different, synchronized directions as four AMRAMS shot where we used to be. There weren't even missile alerts! Suddenly, our radars began to fritz out and cleared up again. But now there were twenty enemy signatures on them. "Shit," I muttered under my breath. "Keep your eyes peeled everyone," I called out as I began to scan the sky. "I think this guy's just started pulling out his tricks."

"I always hated wizards," Larry said in a somewhat remorseful tone. I was pretty sure there was a meaning behind what he had said, but right now I had to focus on different things. Then I caught it again. Without announcing it to anyone, I shot after the plane.

"It looks like the captain's got something," Sylvia said as I closed in on the aircraft. Then the pilot gave me the red light by engaging his after-burners. I had him now. We were shooting all over the sky and I began to notice how quite the radio was. It was nice in one way because I could focus quite easily, but disconcerting in another because I now felt alone in the large open sky. Then I noticed the helicopter, we were flying straight towards it. Then it happened.

The widow pulled away but I didn't. I couldn't. I continued at the missile that had just been launched.

The missile was a mile from the helicopter.

The speed of a Sidewinder missile is approximately Mach 2.7 ignoring parent velocity.

.487 milli-seconds for the missile to intercept the helicopter.

I was 200 yards from the missile.

The speed of a 20mm bullet is approximately Mach 3.04 ignoring parent velocity.

The nervous system sends messages at 268 miles per hour.

There is approximately 1.2 meters between my head and my trigger finger which is approximately 0.000746 miles.

2.78 micro-seconds to pull the trigger.

.442 milli-seconds for the bullet to intercept the missile with reaction time added in.

.045 milli-seconds to spare.

Easy.

I pulled the trigger to send the bullets down range, but it would have to be the first bullet in order for the crazy stunt to work; one bullet every .01 seconds didn't allow for a mistake.

"Shit! Missile! Brace for impact!" but by the first letter of the first word, the threat would've already killed the helicopter pilot. The fact that he had said 25 different letters proved my success.

"What the...?" Snow called out.

"Oh mein Gott..." came a Belken voice. A lone cloud of darkening fire a few yards from the helicopter was all that remained of my quick thinking. I continued that quick thought and launched a sidewinder of my own at the now easy prey of the F-23.

"What?" Pop's asked. "Did the helicopter make it?"

"... We managed to make it out of there. Mission accomplished."

"Let's get back to the carrier," I called out as I took a trailing position behind the helicopter.

"Blaze-" Kei began but was cut off by the president.

"Your voice... it sounds familiar. Are you...?"

"Yeah," I said to the president. "Good to have you back Mr. President."

"I thought so," the man said, a bit of a smile in his voice, though awe was still among the most prevalent of emotions. "Looks like I owe you another one."

"I'd say you owe him more than that," Larry said quietly, he himself having a tone of awe. The flight back was very silent until I got a private ping from Petra right behind me.

"How did you know that would work?" she asked as soon as we made the private channel.

"Know what would work?"

"You shot a frickin' missile, Caden. A missile!"

"I didn't know if it would work, but I had to do something," I replied. I couldn't really believe it myself, but it happened. There was no need to dwell on something that could never happen again.

"Well, it was still amazing."

"Thanks, I guess." I began to think about how we were now going to have to land on a carrier. "Ugh," I moaned involuntarily.

"What? What's wrong?" Petra asked concernedly.

"Shooting that missile seems easy compared to what we'll have to do to land on the carrier."

"Oh, that. Don't worry too much about it. I've actually practiced it tones of times."

"Really?"

"Yeah, course I was always back here, doing radar stuff, so, it might be a different experience all together for you."

"Really."

"Just follow whatever directions they give you and you'll be fine."

When we got within the landing range of the Carrier, Snow was the first to land. He made the whole thing look as easy as swallowing water. Grimm was next. He had to come at it again, but landed without incident. Next, Kei came down slowly and followed every direction given to her without question. Then it was me.

"Okay, Blaze. Come and line yourself up with the lights." I began to get into the landing corridor. The short length of the flight deck was puny compared to the long runways I was used to staring down. "Now, you're going to have to land with your rear wheels first like normal, but what's going to be different is that your nose will be up almost the entire time. It's going to be scary cause you won't be able to see the flight deck with your own eyes, so it's vital you listen to everything and do everything I tell you. Got it?"

"Copy that," I replied, a slight shake in my voice. I began to put the gear down as well as deploy the landing hook. Petra wouldn't let me forget about it. I began to glide down towards the flight deck.

"Oh," the man who was guiding me told me before I landed. "Also, when you hit the deck, hit full power. After-burner and everything."

"What?!"

"In case you don't catch an arresting wire. Wouldn't want you to roll right into the water."

"Jeez," I muttered as I began to point the nose up. I was very nervous now. I couldn't see anything! The whole nose of the plane was obstructing everything.

"You're doing great, Blaze. Give me just a little more power, you're below just a little... that's it. Hold it there... okay, now... FULL POWER!"

The plane shuddered as I hit the deck but I applied full power just as the man said. The nose came down as if under its control and I saw the ship's deck at last. I felt the plane shuddering as the engine worked against the cable I was obviously attached to.

"CUT POWER!" the man shouted out. I quickly pulled my throttle all the way back and took a deep breath as I relaxed into my seat. I never wanted to do that again.

It would be a couple of hours until the slower helicopter made it to the ship so we had some time to debrief with Pop's. He decided to try out individual briefings so we all waited outside an office while we took turns entering for his questions. I was last right after Kei. Once she got out she smiled at me and patted me on the shoulder.

"He's expecting a good story for that missile," she told me before she walked off towards the mess hall.

"Great," I muttered as I watched her leave and finally entered the small room.

"Blaze," the man said casually from his padded stool that was bolted to the floor. "Go on ahead and have a seat." I took the chair opposite of the older man and waited.

And waited.

"Um...?" I began. Only then did Pop's begin to speak.

"You'll remember from this morning's briefing that the information we received about the presidents' location was from an intercepted message aboard the Andromeda." I gave the man a puzzled expression with a slight smile. He was so serious that he must be having some kind of fun with me. He remained dead serious.

"What's this-"

"We also got another message. It came in almost as soon as you began your operations." He pulled out a piece of printed paper that looked like it came from a fax machine. Pop's began reading from it. "'It wasn't a suicide. Welcome to the dead pilot's club.'" The older man then dropped the paper and looked me in the eye. I just returned the look, not sure what this was about.

"Who was that from?" I asked finally after a two minute stalemate.

"We don't know. We couldn't even begin to trace it."

"Did Kei or Grimm know what it was about?"

"Oh," Pop's said un-genuinely. "Let me read the very first line. I guess I forgot about it." He cleared his throat dramatically, brought up the paper to eye level again in a grandiose fashion and then pronounced in emphasis, "'Caden,'." He dropped the paper and looked at me again.

"It was meant for me?" I asked dumbly.

"Well, that is your name and I'm pretty sure you're the only 'dead pilot' with that name." I scowled in deeper confusion.

"Can I see it?" I asked as I held out a hand. Pop's gave me the paper and I read it over again.

_Caden,_

_It wasn't a suicide. Welcome to the dead pilot's club._

It wasn't a suicide...

_"About a month after Charles gets transferred to a more secure holding, he ends up dead hanging in his cell. It all looks to be a regular suicide at first, until you look deeper."_

_"Kim-"_

_"Caden! There was no way for him to get himself up there! Third party autopsies even show defensive wounds! Why don't you want to believe it?"_

_"Because who would do it to him? The only person who had access to that room, via retinal scan none the less, was the police chief and he had been at the charity banquet giving a speech at the time of death. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he'd get convicted and with the charges against him, it was either going to be a life or death sentence. Either of those would be enough to make someone do what he did."_

_"Maybe someone wanted to make sure he got death."_

"What is it Caden? Do you know who it is?"

"No. It can't- He... No." My stomach was dropping until it was no longer there. I felt my head float off and away. It couldn't be-

"Caden? Who is it? Who sent you the message?" Everything stopped and I found solstice in the dark.


	34. -Privileged Information-

**Privileged Information**

**.oOo.**

"Caden?"

"Huh?"

"Where did you go?"

"Nowhere. I've been stuck here the whole time," I told the woman in a tone that was admittedly more harsh and belittling than she deserved. "Why won't you people believe me when I tell you that I'm okay?"

"You've lost people, Caden. It's natural and normal to feel the need to be angry towards people who just want to help-" Actually, maybe my callousness was right on point.

"Can you wake Whitney up? You know, from her coma? Can you find the burglar who killed my parents? The one nobody can seem to find? Can you make that worm of a person come back to life and take what he really deserves? Make him suffer for the sick things he's done?"

"..."

"Can you do any of those things?"

"Caden-"

"Because if you can't, I don't see the point to this." The woman just sat there. To her credit, she was hiding her emotions very well while mine were right there on the surface for her to read. I needed to learn how she was doing that.

"I don't want you here anymore than you do," she said anew, still no trace of emotion in her voice. I was beginning to take some interest in what she was saying. "You clearly won't talk to me and while I very much doubt you are 'okay', I do believe you're strong enough to handle things your own way." I relaxed a little knowing that at least this woman was listening. "However, even with that said, this is state mandated. I can't let you go until we discuss something pertaining to recent traumatic events." I sighed. If that's all it took to get out of here, I guess there was no way around it.

"What do you want to discuss?" I asked as loathsomely as I could. The woman smiled slightly, glad to at least have a little cooperation after nearly half an hour of me deflecting every attempt she made with logical counter arguments about why this session was pointless. This woman was clearly used to dealing with blubbering, weepy people, not patients like me who used lizard brain logic to point out flaws in this whole treatment methodology.

"What's the last memory you have with your parents?" she asked.

"Which ones?" I asked, making the point that I had endured that loss twice.

"The Irving's," she replied somberly, again realizing I wasn't a normal case. I nodded as I began to think about my last visit with them.

"It was during this last winter break. Everything was just about the same as it had been for the last three years I've gone to visit them for break. The only thing that seemed oddly different about it was how much my parents seemed to tell me they loved me and supported me. Though, that's probably just me remembering it that way 'cause it was the last time I saw them." The woman nodded, scribbling something down onto her notepad.

"What about your last encounter with Whitney?"

"While she was still conscious?" I asked pointedly. Again, the woman showed a ping of sympathy before she closed her eyes and nodded. "I had walked her home and told her good night and that I had a great time with her at the dance. Then I walked home and from there you can read the police reports. I think you'll find them quite detailed." Again the woman just scribbled some stuff down, but not before glancing back up at me with a look that could only be described as worry. What for, I didn't know.

"Just one more question before you go," the woman said as she offered me a cup of water that I just pushed away. Some part of me still thought there were some kind of mind numbing drugs they put in the water to make people spill more information. Call me paranoid. "Did you visit Charles at all while he was in detainment?" I had to give the woman some credit, that question came from left field.

"Yes," I said simply, not wanting to betray any of my surprise.

"Can you tell me about it?" she asked innocently, not caring to look up from her notepad.

"I thought you said only one more question."

"Caden," she said un-amused as she gave me a hard look.

"Fine."

The facility was impressive with its institutionally white walls and plainness, but in my mind, it wasn't oppressive enough. There were people in a yard playing sports and I heard that there were other 'activities' for some inmates. He didn't deserve any of that.

"This way," my escort said. He was a burly man and didn't seem too pleased to have been taken from his normal routine to walk me around. From the smell of his breath, I was probably interrupting one of his smoking breaks. There was a loud buzz as the man opened a door for me and took me into a room with many booths that had telephones to communicate between them. I looked up and saw three security cameras. They needed a fourth to cover a blind spot in the middle. Might as well exploit that flaw today. I took my spot in the middle of the room where there would be a gap in the coverage of security footage and waited.

Charles had to be put in some kind of protective unit. After his injuries from that horrible night healed, he got a fresh batch as soon as he was introduced to prison. Turns out that news of his acts spread quickly amongst the population here and prison had its own hierarchy of crimes with Charles at the bottom. When his form came into view, I had a twinge of dark satisfaction at seeing him bruised and flinching at every sudden move. And then he saw me. He stopped moving altogether and just stood there with his eye that wasn't black widening as far as it would go. I just sat there staring straight into his being, trying with every fiber to relay to him the hate I had for what he had done. It seemed to have worked because he turned right back around and left. The guard who had been escorting me walked up behind me.

"Charles said he didn't want to see you."

"He has that choice?" I asked insidiously. "Did his victims have that choice?"

"Look, kid. I don't make the rules, I just carry them out." I winced at the strong odor of so much tobacco but nodded my head and let the man walk me out.

The woman just stared at me while I sat there waiting for her to tell me I could go.

"Are you glad he is dead?" she asked finally.

"That's another question."

"Answer it." I was quiet for a moment and considered just getting up and walking out. She had been trying to push my buttons ever since I walked into the room and now that she had found them, I just wanted to leave.

"I'm glad he is gone from society, there isn't and there will never be a place in our world for people like him. However, I think he exited the wrong way," I replied. The woman stared at me for a few more moments, taking in my answer fully before she nodded her head and scribbled some more. "Can I leave now?" I asked impatiently

"Yes," the woman said at last. I got up and out of the chair faster than I think she thought I could but stopped me before I reached the door. "Caden?"

"What is it now?" I asked, a little angry as I turned around.

"Don't let this eat at you. I'm sure you can move on and continue to lead a productive life. But if you dwell on this, you'll never be at peace." I stood there a moment more with my hand on the door handle, thinking about what had really been said. Drop it.

"Caden," a voice called out. I looked up at the woman but she hadn't moved. Besides, the voice didn't come from her. It was coming from... everywhere. "Caden," the voice called again. Wait... I had been...

**.oOo.**

"Caden, come on, wake up." I gasped, taking in as much air as I could as if it was going to run out.

"What happened? Where am I?"I said as I blinked to clear my eyes. Large metal walls were covered in bright white light coming from right in front of me, burning my eyes with its brilliance.

"Pop's, he's up," Kei called from beside me, immediately grasping my hands as I tried to use them to block out the light. "Don't move, we still need to check if you hurt yourself."

"I'm fine," I replied as I tried to get up. Despite my statement, however, my head felt like it was swimming in syrup and there was an intense throbbing behind my eyes and at the back of my head.

"Oh please," Kei began in a softer tone. "Even that thick head can get hurt sometimes. Now just relax. Some doctors will be here soon." I suddenly remembered the note.

"Kei, the message-"

"I know, I saw it too," she said. Her face was just now starting to become a coherent image and from what I could make out from its whitewashed appearance in the bright light, she was concerned. "Do you think it could really be-"

"Captain Irving? I'm Senior Chief Petty Officer Lawrence. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," I reiterated, but like Kei, he wasn't having any of it.

"Sir, I've been in the medical field longer than you've been alive. You're not going to be able to pull that on me." He walked over to the lamp above me and turned it off, offering a small reprieve just before he pulled out a pen light and began to shine it in my eyes.

"Why is it you people always go for the eyes?" I asked, more than a little frustrated at how it seemed every medical practitioner shined light at your eyes until it hurt.

"Because they can tell us so much," the doctor replied as he turned his light off and put some gloves on. He turned back towards an assistant who was standing by with a notepad. "No hemorrhaging, going to check a few more things. Captain Nagase," the man said as he turned back towards the tow of us. "Would you mind stepping out for a moment?" Kei got up from her spot and left the room without another word, though she did look over her shoulder as she passed Pop's by the door.

A full battery of checks later and the doctors knew what I already did. I was fine. A minor headache, but in perfect health otherwise. Before I could leave, though, Pop's held me up.

"Now, about that note," He began, looking me over to see if I was about to pass out again. Once he was satisfied that I wasn't swooning he gave me a critical eye. "Do you know who sent it?" I sighed deeply. There were only a few people who knew about Charles' death and the circumstances surrounding it. There was only one person I could think of who would be in a 'dead pilot club' though.

"I think... I think it was Mobius One," I told Pop's. "I think it was my dad." Now it was Pop's turn to look bewildered.

"What?" How was I going to explain this to the man? I hardly had anything more than he did, only high ranking people-

"Pop's," I asked suddenly. "Is the president on board yet?" The old man had to find his way back to me before he gave an answer.

"Uh, the president? Yeah, he just got back a couple of minutes ago. What was that about you and Mobius One?"

"I think Mr. Harling will be able to shed some light on it," I replied. "Care to lead me to him?" Pop's blinked a couple of times before he realized my request. Nodding, he began to navigate the halls and corridors as adeptly as Marcus had. After some flights of stairs, I found myself at the bridge of the aircraft carrier. I had been expecting something a little more... open. It still felt cramped up here but before I could contemplate further, I saw the president out on a balcony. Seeming to realize he had company, the man turned around and smiled. He had been the only one up here which seemed strange to me for a moment. Wasn't he supposed to have all this protection? Then I realized we had just rescued him from a castle. In Belka.

"So you must be this 'Blaze' everyone's talking about," the man said as he came back inside. He had a thick brown leather coat on with black wool for insulation. He didn't seem to be injured, a miracle when I again considered where he had just come from.

"Sir," I replied as I pulled myself to a stance of attention and saluted. The man continued to smile and just gave a salute back and put a hand forward for me to shake.

"I think I owe you a couple of favors for pulling me out of the fire," the man said as we shook hands. "Twice," he added as he pulled back and continued to smile.

"Sorry if it's a little early to be cashing in," I told the man as he raised a brow, "But I need you to tell us about Mobius One." The man's smile faltered for a moment before he resumed a now fake grin.

"Wouldn't that be something to ask someone in Usea?"

"It would be if he still lived there. But after the war there, he moved to Osea with his son and wife and lived there until his... apparent death earlier this year." The man's smile was now gone and replaced by an unreadable gaze.

"I don't know where you've heard this from-"

"I'm his son." To his credit, the man's face didn't convey any change in mood. After a moment, he looked around the bridge again.

"I think this is a conversation to be had a little later. I'm assuming you want Mr. Beagle in on this too?" he asked as he raised his eye brows towards the man.

"Pop's intercepted a letter sent to me from who I can only assume was my father," I replied. For the first time in the conversation, the president showed some amount of surprise.

"It must be pretty bad if he's gone and contacted you. I've missed more than I thought," the president muttered, only serving to put more questions into my head. Had he been in contact with my father? "Meet me back here this evening. We'll discuss everything then. Bring whoever you need to but... do keep in mind this is very privileged information."

"Thank you sir," I told the man as he nodded.

"Well, I've been out of the loop for some time," the man said on a brighter and more open note. "Mind filling me in 'Pop's?' I think Mr. Irving here is a little hungry and wants to meet up with some of his wing-mates." Taking the clue, I bowed out of the bridge and made my way to the mess hall, amazed I was starting to memorize my way around the ship. I still had no clue about starboard and port though.

Once I got my food, I sat down at a table near the exit. As soon as I was done, I was going to take a little nap before meeting the president on the Andromeda tonight. But as I continued to work away at my plate, an interruption came that put a hold on that plan.

"There you are," a voice I had only heard over the radio before called out. At first, I didn't even know if they had been addressing me, but once there was another presence near me, I looked up and saw another pilot standing near me. "You're Blaze, right?" The man asked with raised eyebrows. I peered behind him to notice a group of people near the door of the mess hall just watching us.

"Yeah," I said as I nodded my head. "Yeah, that's me. Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Hank Smith, though you probably know me better as Sea Goblin." The man then turned around and motioned at the gaggle of people who had been hanging back. "We just wanted to come by and personally thank you for taking out that missile. We would've been done for if that thing hit us. The president too."

"Um, you're welcome, I guess," I replied as the group of people joined me at the table with their own food. "Really, I'm surprised it-"

"So what's it like flying a fixed wing?" another person with a pilot suit interrupted. "Oh, Ensign Brian Edison, by the way. Sea Goblin's co-pilot," the man added with an offered hand. I shook his hand and tried to understand his question.

"It's fast," I said after a while. "It pulls you around and after a while, it feels like running on thin air." I smiled slightly at trying to compile all of my time spent in the air into one moment. Running on air captured it perfectly.

"Man, when we're on the ground and one of you guys buzzes right overhead, that's amazing. I can't imagine what it's like for you guys," One of the men in a marine uniform said as he began to pick at his food. "And then, when you fire that cannon," he said in between mouthfuls. "What a rush! There's nothing else that makes you more scared or excited than hearing that rumble." Some of the other marines eating with him nodded their heads enthusiastically while others got a dazed look in their eyes as if calling up a memory of such an event.

"Have you ever been shot down?" One of the marines near the end of the table asked. A man right next to him scoffed and elbowed him.

"You realize who you're speaking to? This guy's a Demon of Razgriz! The enemy couldn't shoot him down if he were standing still." A couple of people near the two men laughed a little at the comment.

"I've been shot," I replied after a break between the clinking of silverware. Some people began to look up and listen. "But no, I've never been shot down."

"Told ya," the marine told his friend. There were a few more questions that popped up like what my favorite plane had been and what my favorite maneuver was. A lot of people were surprised when I told them the barrel roll. It was just a fun thing to do. I eventually was able to excuse myself and made my way to my sleeping quarters for my nap. I was about to enter when I remembered it was a shared space and that I should knock first. After no response from my three raps, I pushed the metal door open.

I knew it would've only been a matter of time until it happened. It was an inevitable situation that became more probable every day Kei and I shared a room. But only two days in? I mean, not even my first roommate in college had this problem until a month into our co-habitation. But this was certainly different than some pair of boxers lying in a secluded corner. I couldn't even be in the same room without feeling my face heat up to an uncomfortable degree. I stepped back out of the room and shut the door. Maybe she would be right back. I could wait for her to show up and have her remove it from sight. That would be the best solution. So I sat outside.

For an hour.

I looked down at my watch and saw that now it would only be three hours until my meet up with the president. I was feeling very tired and didn't want to waste any more time waiting so I began to get up so I could make my way to the rec rooms couch which was my unofficial fall back bed. That was when she decided to show up.

"There you are," she said as she rounded a corner. "I've been- what's wrong?"

"I've been waiting here. For an hour." I said plainly, not disclosing the real issue to her yet.

"Why were you waiting outside the room?" Kei asked, as if she didn't know why I couldn't enter. Surely she knew. She had to. You don't leave something like that out and forget about it.

"Because of what's inside the room," I replied. Kei quirked an eyebrow at me as she walked past me into our room. For a moment she didn't say anything. Then she saw it.

"Oh..." she said after a moment, no kind of embarrassment or shame in her voice. Then her tone became thick with questioning. "Is this what was bothering you?" she asked as she suddenly appeared in front of the door with her hand holding her... upper undergarments... that had been unceremoniously discarded on the floor of our room. My reaction was near immediate as I shut my eyes forcefully and spun around.

"Kei!" I said in total and utter surprise. I sighed deeply as I continued to face the wall with my eyelids blocking out the visual world. "Just take care of it before someone else has to see it."

"Huh," Kei said nonchalantly as I heard her walk back into the room. "Would've thought my boyfriend would be a little more interested." Her off-hand remark had many effects on me, but the one that I noticed most was a sense of being stuck.

"I am interested," I said quickly as I walked into our room and headed for my bed. "It's just, you know, that... felt like a... an intrusion of... privacy?"

"Is that a question?" Kei asked as I got into my cot for a quick nap. "And since when did you start going to bed so early?"

"I'm taking a nap," I replied, hoping she would forget our previous line of conversation for this much more comfortable topic. "I'm going to be seeing the president later to learn more about my father. You can come if you'd like," I added as I settled into a comfortable position. Kei was silent for a few moments.

"Caden?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Where do you see us in the future?" I sat there, quiet as a stone. Maybe I should just forget about that nap. "Caden?"

"I don't know," I said as I cleared my throat and turned so that I could see into the room. "Closer, I guess. I mean, that's the point in... I guess in a loose sense of the word, this would be called dating." Kei just looked at me in my bed as she stood by the door.

"How close do you want to get?" If I didn't know any better, I would've guessed that Kei had a list of questions she got from Raenay. I thought about that woman for another moment, how lonely she would be in the world now. But as I continued to linger on her, I realized she wasn't alone at all. She still had a bit of Chopper with her in the form of Vicky, Chopper's parents were still there with her. In fact, it seemed Raenay had more family than even I did including my recent revelation about my father. Hadn't I told myself some time ago that was what I was fighting for? That a family would be my cause? "Caden?" Kei called out, grabbing my attention again.

I got out from bed and began walking over to Kei. She had been careful to keep her emotions hidden during the exchange we had been having but as I approached her, I could tell she was starting to lose that control. I stopped once I was right in front of her and then slowly brought her into a warm hug.

"Kei," I began, speaking into her neck. "I want to be as close to you as I can possibly be." Any rigidity in her body melted away in that instant as she seemed to collapse into me. I held her there, swaying ever so slightly as she continued to squeeze me back with force I may have found uncomfortable under different conditions. After a few moments of the closeness, she began to relent and eventually pulled back enough to look at me through her teary eyes. She suddenly got one of her silly smiles that seemed at odds with her red, puffed up eyes.

"We're going to have to get you a little more used to seeing my bra then." My mind began to blank out as she just began to laugh and sniffle. "I love you," she said as she collapsed back into me. That was enough to break me out of embarrassing thoughts and bring me back to the real person in front of me.

"I love you too," I replied with meaning as I bowed my head down to her shoulder. We stood there for a while longer before I felt Kei start to pull back again.

"Well, I'm going to go get a shower. I don't want to look like this when we go see the president."

"So you're coming?" I asked as she began to gather up some items.

"Yeah, if still allowed to," she replied glancing back up at me.

"Of course," I told her. She nodded her head and went back to gathering a few more items.

"Good. See you in a bit then." I nodded as she left the room. I was now free to take my nap. But it seemed that as soon as I was asleep, my alarm woke me back up. I grabbed my own items for a trip to the shower and was done and ready to go just as Kei got back. We both made our way up to the bridge which once again was devoid of bustling activity I would've expected. A few moments passed before Pop's showed up as well.

"Who would've thought," the older man said in a playful yet teasing way. I just rolled my eyes and noticed that Kei's face shaded slightly before a shocked look came upon it. I directed my attention to where she was staring and saw the president walking in. I began to get up to follow proper military procedure but the man waved me off before I was completely out of my chair.

"As it's been explained to me," he began with a small smile. "You're no longer an official part of the military. Don't have to follow some of its rules. Besides, I've never really been a fan of all of that fanfare. Makes me feel like I'm unreachable." I was beginning to see why the man had won his second election so easily. "But enough about me, this evening is supposed to be about Mobius One." I nodded subtlety as the man glanced first at Kei and then Pop's. "So, what do you want to know?"


	35. -Forlorn-

**Forlorn**

All I had been thinking of since my earlier encounter with the president was which questions I would ask him, I had almost a year worth of them. But now that I had an opportunity to have them answered, there were gone like insects that hide from the light. Only one, big, simple question stood out.

"Are my parent's alive?"

"Starting with the basics, good," the president started with a nod as he found his own seating. "Yes, both Elizabeth and Andrew Irving are alive and well. And you can consider that information up to date as well," the man said, anticipating my next question. "I may have been in a castle for a while, but I've got a connection that is still loyal and close enough to the inside to confirm that your parents are still safe. I was even told that Appelrouth hasn't learned of them."

"Just how 'privileged' is this information?" Pop's asked. "If not even the Vice President knows-"

"I never told Appelrouth much more than he needed, especially near the end," Harling interrupted with a small sigh. "He may have been my running mate, but he was always there more to make me seem balanced in terms of my view on world conflict than anything else. That said, the other people who know about this can be counted on one hand. That's missing two fingers. And one of them is my wife." I grinned slightly at the president's darker humor before another one of my questions popped up.

"Why? Why did they have to... 'Die?'" I asked, not sure how else to word my inquiry.

"That ties in with the secrecy," The president said before he gave a low sigh and glanced up at me for a brief moment before looking back down at his shoes to collect his thoughts. After another moment of thinking, he brought his head up with finality. "Remember how your father got you a citizenship to this country?" the president asked.

"Yes, but what does that-"

"Do you know how long it takes the average person to become an Osean citizen? First they have to immigrate and become a legal permanent resident, a process that in itself can take years. Then, once they've lived here for five years, they can apply for nationalization. That whole process can take six months up to past a year depending on where you live and who's handling your case. You know how long it took your dad?" he asked. I was silent. "Less than a month." I just sat there. I had always known that I had gotten citizenship pretty quickly and that it was normally a lengthy process, but the president had just described a process that sounded like it took a minimum of six years.

"Why was it so fast?" Kei asked for me. I glanced at her and saw she was surprised as well.

"I handled that request of citizenship personally," the president began. "It was during my first term that the Usean war broke out and I decided that Osea would be a neutral faction. I wanted to show the world, specifically Yuktobania, that we could restrain ourselves and stay out of conflict. When your father first contacted me and told me who he was, I was afraid he was seeking some sort of apology. An apology that, in retrospect, I must admit he was due. What ended up coming out of that war was..." the man hung his head for a moment before continuing. "But that wasn't what he was after. I received a letter from him at first, telling me who he was. He said he came to Osea because he saw the direction I was taking the country, a path to peace. He told me how he had seen enough war and death for his family and how he didn't want that for him. He also told me that his son wanted nothing more than to become a military pilot. So he proposed a deal." The president began to pull something from his pocket and placed it on the table. It looked like an audio player of some kind. "Earlier today, while I was in contact with my source on the inside, I had them send a copy of our first face-to-face conversation to the Andromeda for me. I think this will explain some things." The president then pressed a button on the side of the small device. Everyone was dead quiet as an official sounding voice began to sound off.

"The following audio was captured on the first of October, 2005 between the 48th president of Osea, Vincent Harling, and a person of the NSA's interest whose identity is classified as Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information. Begin recording." The room was absolutely quiet as we listened to the barely noticeable static of the recording begin.

"Ah, Mr. -...-, come on in," I heard the president say over the tape. It was clear that someone had edited the audio so the name the president had said was absent. The next voice, however, told me who it was just the same.

"Mr. President, thank you for seeing me." It was my father. I looked up at the president but he was just staring off into space as the audio continued.

"Please, call me Vincent." There was the some sounds that sounded like two people sitting down in leather seats and then a small door opening. "Care for a drink?"

"No. No, I'm good, thanks." The door closed again. There was a short bout of silence before my dad spoke again. "So, I'm guessing you're willing to listen to my deal? If you weren't, I don't think I'd have to tell my family a cover story for me visiting White Hill here in Oured."

"My national security advisor, department of homeland security secretary, and department of defense secretary advised I meet with you at the very least. That, and then my wife said it was a good idea." Both men chuckled for a moment before the president spoke up again. "In all seriousness though, I'm curious at the very least to know what I can do for you. After confirming your identity with people up in North Point, I was shocked you had come here. They were offering quite a bit back there."

"I came here to get my family away from war. They wanted me to be the man in charge of it. Besides, Generals just have a tendency of becoming the person everyone blames when bad things happen in war. It seems, however, that in my attempt to get my son away from the possibility of war, he's become more determined to get closer to it. All he seems to want to do is fly fighter jets."

"I guess it runs in the family," the president remarked.

"I'd agree with you but the funny thing is that he's adopted. Orphaned by the Ulysses incident. Lost our own kid in that tragedy and we lucked out in getting another chance with him. But I digress." My dad sighed a little before he continued. "I want him to be able to do whatever he sets his mind to, but I don't want him to go through the hell we call war. I've seen enough of it to last the entire human race. So here's my deal. You at least give him the chance to serve and in return for ensuring that this country stays out any conflicts for as long as he's in its service, I'll provide any services you may need from a pilot of my... skill set." There was a long silence before the president spoke again.

"Mr. -...-, I don't know how much you know about me, but I ran on the platform of staying out of conflicts. I didn't intervene in the one in Usea because of it."

"Then your end of the deal just became that much easier," my father replied.

"So, essentially, you're offering your services as a... skilled pilot in return for your son being able to serve as a pilot himself?"

"Essentially, yes."

"You do realize that he can join and become a pilot regardless of whether I accept your services or not, right?" There was a pause in conversation as I heard one of the men begin to adjust their seating in their chair.

"I don't want my son to have to go through war. With my services, you can make sure that war doesn't come to Osea. I know you're a peaceful man, Vincent, but the world isn't a peaceful place. Especially your neighbors to the north. With me, you can take action against violence without having to use your military."

"Mr. -...-, you're one pilot. No offense, but for me to imagine one man doing things I would normally call upon the entirety of the armed forces for-"

"Here is a number. Call it. Below is the security code they'll ask from you." There was the sound of a piece of paper being slid over a table. "Go on, call it."

"Right now?"

"Yeah." More silence and then finally, a phone being picked up. We could just barely hear the person on the other end of the line.

"This number is for official use only. Please give authorization."

"802 dash Charlie Uniform Papa dash 716." A long pause.

"One moment please." There was a short pause in conversation before another voice came over the phone.

"Our voice pattern analysis identifies you as President Vincent Harling. The code you gave us is the one we gave -...- -...- for having us transfer battle records. We are faxing them over right now. If -...-'s there with you right now, tell him our offer still stands and that we'll double the pay."

"Still not interested Dennison," my father said loud enough for the message to get to the man.

"You're a damn lucky man Mr. Harling." The phone hung up just as the sound of an office door opening was heard.

"Mr. President, we just got this fax from the Hexagon in North Point."

"Thank you Sheryl, that'll be all." We could hear footsteps as the woman walked in and then out of the room and finally shut the door. Some papers were rustled before the president muttered something. "Damn lucky..." There was then a large sigh as the papers made the noise of being re-ordered. "You're right, -...-. The world isn't a peaceful place. And if these documents are authentic, you're also right in saying you can ensure that Osea remains a peaceful place for as long as your child is in its service. I... I don't like having to use deception like this to keep it that way, but as much as I try to use other means to keep the world at peace, others use violence to plunge it into chaos. I'll speak with my advisors and secretaries... and my wife, but I'm fairly certain that I will be accepting this deal."

"You won't regret it sir."

"End of audio recording," the official sounding voice said finally. The bridge was silent with no one daring to move, still processing all of what we had just heard. Finally, the President spoke up.

"Your father did things I didn't think possible. If he hadn't been offering his 'services,' we would've had four different conflicts with nations all over the world. And he didn't just solve conflicts either. I don't know how much attention you pay to politics Mr. Irving, but that oil deal with Independent State Allied Forces back when you were probably just starting college? That was because of him helping them out in a time of their need." The president continued to list off various things my father had done but I was too busy thinking to notice for the moment.

I had done this to him. Because I wanted to be in the military, he had gone and given up a piece of his freedom to ensure I stayed safe. And here I was, in a dead pilot club.

"That still doesn't explain why they... died," I said suddenly, coming from my stupor. The president stopped his list and looked at me.

"We got word that he may have been compromised from one our agents in Belka. Two of the conflicts he stopped originated there. We informed him about it as soon as we found out and put a suspension on his operations. That was around Christmas last year. Then we found out about an attack. We needed to do something before everything blew up in our faces. Most of our allies knew about what we were doing, in fact, most of the time your father was able to work with aces in other countries on his missions. But there was one ally that, against my judgment, didn't know."

"Yuktobania," Kei muttered.

"Exactly. If we hadn't have done something, they would've found out and assumed the worst. At least, that's what all my advisors told me. So, to keep everything under control, we staged his death. The Belken's bought it and now we find ourselves here. It's just my guess, but I think that Belka has done what it has now because they thought your father was dead and couldn't stop them again. I'd like to see the person who is in charge when they figure out that the one who's been giving them so much trouble is the guy's son." Despite the circumstances, I grinned a little at the irony as well. A final question came to mind.

"Where are they now? Can I see them? Talk to them?" The president's slight humor dissipated as he looked at me again.

"Part of the deal was that in events such as this, where we had to hide their existence, they would go into hiding at a location only they were privy to. Not even I know where they are now. The only reason we know they're still alive besides that note your father sent you is because of a sub-dermal implant he and Elizabeth have that sends an untraceable signal to us every twenty four hours on an encrypted ghost channel." I nodded my head accepting what the man told me. I suddenly felt giddy. I had family. I couldn't see them or talk to them, but they were alive.

"Thank you, for everything," I told the president as I stood up and offered my hand.

"Thank your father once you get the chance. He did it all so you could be safe," the president said as he shook my hand. I nodded as Pop's and Kei stood up as well. Suddenly, Pop's radio went off.

"Peter, it's Gwen on the Andromeda. We just got another encrypted message. 27'42'259'15'1112'0800'44312243'48562134_. Our Cryptologist is saying it latitude, longitude, a date and time, but he's unsure about the other two."

"What were they again?" the president asked, a curious face gracing him.

"Gwen, what were the last two numbers?" Pop's asked for the president.

"44,312,243 and 48,562,134."

"Well how about that," the president said, realization dawning on him. "Those are the numbers of votes I won in my presidential elections. That message was meant for me."

"Gwen," Pop's said with urgency. "Where did you get the numbers from?"

"Some Air Force Traffic Control over in Yuktobania, same one as last time."

"We got the information from Yuktobania?" Kei asked, mirroring what I had been thinking.

"Where do those coordinates land?" Pop's asked, ignoring Kei for now.

"Some place in northern Belka. Pulling up some satellite images... Big forest... Mining equipment... Wait... Yeah, big airbase and minor port facilities. There's a giant mountain of some sort right next to the facility with a road leading to it. Storage facility of some kind maybe..." Pop's face just kept falling with every observation the woman made.

"What is it Pop's?" I asked the man, worried about what was getting at him.

"Nothing. That date is tomorrow and that place is deep in the Belken's territory. I don't necessarily trust this transmission if it was given to us with purpose. While I know the Yuktobanian's aren't our true enemies, there are still too many that think us to be their enemies to see them as allies." Pop's stopped musing out loud for a moment as he looked around the bridge in thought. "You two should get some rest. Seems like there's going to be a mission tomorrow." Kei and I agreed and wished Pop's and the president a good night before heading out.

I had already cleaned up to go see the president so all I needed to do was crawl into bed when we got to our room. I sat in my dark bed for ten minutes before Kei spoke up from above me.

"So," she said after a while.

"Yeah," I replied.

"You're dad is bad-ass," she said after another moment.

"Thanks, but so is yours."

"Yeah, but yours did stuff for the president!"

"Technically, the entire military works for the president," I said cheekily.

"You like it when I punch you?" Kei asked with malice that I knew she wouldn't follow through with.

"Maybe a little," I said giving a small kick to the bed above mine.

"Don't. Do. That. Again."

"What, this?" I asked as I kicked her bed again.

"Caden..." she threatened. Now I was curious what she would do. I had never really teased Kei this way before on purpose. I gave one final kick to her bed before the room went dead silent. Then, there was rustling from up above me. Then silence again. Suddenly, something warm landed on me. I reached out to get whatever it was and throw it back but once I felt the material...

"KEI! OH MY-" I flailed around trying to get if off me but kept hitting myself in the small room I was confined in. Kei was laughing hysterically at my desperation until I finally just fell out of my bed and backed away from... the clothing item.

"We'll have to keep working at this," Kei said between her laughter. I found another bed on the opposite side of the room to sleep in.

I woke up the next morning before Kei. At first I forgot why I was in a different bed before I looked at the middle of the room and saw that it was still lying there. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and my shower supplies and went to get ready for the day. Once I had dropped my stuff back in our room, I headed out to the mess hall. Kei had been gone when I got back so I knew she would join me in a while. I just sat down with my oat meal when Grimm joined me at the table.

"Hey Grimm," I said casually.

"Hey Capt- gah, I mean Caden." I quirked an eye brow at the man who looked more tired than usual. Grimm promptly responded. "Sylvia says I'm too formal with everyone. Told me I should start using people's names." He took a spoon and began to eat some of his own breakfast. After a bite, he continued again. "It feels super weird, but she promised that she'd make it worth my while."

"Whoa, okay there Grimm."

"Oh! Did I just say that out loud!" Grimm said dropping his spoon and covering his face. "God, I'm so-"

"Hey Grimm, how's it going?" Petra asked as she sat beside me at the table. Grimm just responded by picking up his bowl and running out of the room muttering 'sorry' the whole time. "What was that about? Did I say something wrong?"

"Nah," I told her as I ate another spoonful of my own oats. "He just let something pretty... intimate... slip."

"He shagging Sylvia?" Petra asked with forthrightness that caused me to choke. Once I regained some of my ability to breathe and talk normally, I muttered to myself.

"Leave the military for a week and suddenly we all lose our sense of professionalism." I then looked at Petra who seemed to be enjoying her meal with no problems.

"So did you hear about what happened last night?" Petra asked as she noticed I was looking at her. I just sighed and decided to hear what the scuttlebutt was.

"No, what happened last night."

"Pop's and Larry had a fight."

"Pop's and Larry... What? Why would they fight?"

"I don't know," Petra said as she took a gulp of orange juice. "Just heard a bunch of shouting between them two last night. Course, they weren't the only two shouting," she said getting a gleam in her eye. Kei found the two of us and came to sit down at the table as well.

"Hey Petra, how have you been?" Petra's gleam all but disappeared at Kei's presence. I inferred that Kei had yet to enact her revenge on the woman after the whole caribou man incident.

"I've been good," Petra said as she resumed her consumption of oatmeal at a quickened pace.

"So I saw Marcus on the way here," Kei said, ignoring Petra's animalistic eating. "He told me to tell everyone else that we should meet up in the hangars before the briefing today at noon, so consider yourselves informed."

"Okay, thanks," I told Kei as she dug into her meal. Petra slowed in her eating just slightly and winced between the two of us as if trying to read something that was far away.

"You two are really good at hiding it," she said suddenly, pulling both of us away from our meals.

"Hiding what?" Kei asked.

"Oh, I know what you two are up to," she said with a knowing smile that I was pretty sure wasn't all too knowing of anything. "Grimm ain't the only one getting some."

"Getting some?" Kei asked confused before a hard look came to her eyes. "We haven't been... What did you call it? Carpeting? We haven't been doing that!" I couldn't help but laugh despite the circumstances at Kei's malapropism.

"It's shagging," Petra said ignoring me but laughing a little herself. "And I heard you two last night. The shouting, the moving around. Don't try and hide it."

"That was... something... completely different..." Kei said only serving to hurt her cause.

"Yeah, okay," Petra said with a grin as she stuck another spoon of oatmeal into her mouth.

"Caden," Kei said looking to me for help. "Tell her." She asked for it...

"Kei threw her bra at me because I was kicking her bed." Two things happened in that moment. The first and more painful one was Kei's fist impacting my shoulder as her face changed an all too familiar shade of red. The second and more humorous one was Petra spitting the contents that had been in her mouth out on the table. Once everyone at our table recovered a sufficient amount, Petra spoke up again.

"Okay, that has to be true just because of how ridiculous it is. And because of how hard she hit you." Then she looked between the two of us again while Kei's face tried to return to its normal shade. "You've definitely gone longer than I thought you would," she said before getting up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kei asked after her, a tinge of anger in her voice.

"Hey, cool down there," I told Kei as she watched the other woman leave. That just put her focus on me.

"Really?" she asked. "You're so embarrassed about it when it happens but you go around telling everyone about it?"

"First of all, you told me to tell her, and secondly telling my CSO isn't telling everyone."

"First of all," Kei said repeating my form of delivery. "I just wanted your help. You could've told her you were wrestling a bear, just anything that wasn't... shagging. Secondly, telling that certain CSO is like telling everyone." I thought for a moment.

"Point taken. Sorry." Kei just sighed and took another bite of oatmeal. "I'll talk to her about it."

"Thanks," Kei said between her helpings of food.

"So what did Marcus want to see us in the hangars for?" I asked.

"Don't know," Kei said finally back to normal. "He said it wouldn't take long, he just wanted to show us something." I nodded and waited for her to finish up eating. Once we returned our dishes, we decided to walk up to the flight deck and sit outside. Despite being on a ship and being able to move around freely, it felt like I was in some kind of prison with how much time we were spending inside. I was starting to miss Sand Island.

After a short time on the cold deck, we came back inside to go to the hangars before our briefing to see what Captain Snow wanted to show us. When we got closer to the hangars, we noticed quite a few people besides the rest of the flight were beginning to gather near the closed door to the hangar. I spotted Larry off in a corner doing what could best be described as sulking.

"I'll be right back," I told Kei as I began to walk towards Foulke.

"Where are you going?"

"Just to speak with your uncle." Kei's face contorted a little at the term and I began to regret what I said. "Sorry, I-"

"No, that's what he basically is. I just wish it wasn't sometimes. I'll tell you about it more later. Just... go do whatever you needed to. I'll be here." I felt as if I should just forget about speaking with Larry, but there was some things I wanted to know. Like his fight with Pop's and his general bad mood at the moment. After standing next to Kei for a second longer than I had intended, I made my way through some people to get to Larry. Upon sighting me, he tried with honest effort to brighten is demeanor.

"Hey Captain," he said with a small wave and head nod. "What's up?"

"I could ask you the same question," I replied as I leaned against a wall opposite of the man.

"Oh," Larry said, his effort at improving his mood disappearing. "So you heard."

"Actually, it was Petra doing most of the hearing. I just heard from her that there was some kind of argument between you and Pop's." Larry just nodded his head at hearing what I said.

"Yeah, me and Peter had a... confrontation of sorts last night. He apparently just found out about my role as Galm two. Then we had this... discussion about how we handled the war differently. He refused to drop a bomb on his own country," the man said moving his hands to the right, and then moving his hands to the left as he said, "I refused to believe that countries should exist... Pretty soon, it just got to the point where one of us either had to walk away or throw a punch. I decided that my mistakes in the past should stay there so I just walked away."

Larry looked up to me again. "I've done some terrible things, Caden, and I'll admit them all if you want. But I want to start a new life now. Do I deserve it? Probably not. But I'm still going to work at it. If that means dropping an argument about past ideologies, then you can be sure I'm going to do that."

I thought for a long moment. Larry had shared a little about his past before, and even that had been quite a bit to take in. But something about the broken man seemed honest. "As long as you look out for the rest of this flight, you can count on me to help you with that new life," I told the man as I pushed myself off from the wall I was leaning on. Larry had a small smile on his face as he gave me an even smaller nod.

"Thanks," he said in a low voice. I headed off to stand next to Kei again when Captain Snow suddenly appeared at the front of the crowd near the door.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment you've been waiting for," he said as he reached out to the door.

"What's this about?" I asked Kei once I was at her side again.

"I don't know, you've been here as long as me." Marcus then opened the door to reveal four pitch black tomcats in the hangar area.

Planes have an awe of their own that is unexplainable. Something about seeing a manmade object that is able to fly with grace, agility and power just takes the breath away from you. But the planes in front of me nearly made me pass out. The stark black coloring on the huge planes was so different, it was dizzying. The planes commanded attention and once they had it, installed a sense of foreboding. I quickly ran my eyes over the entirety of the craft and that was when my eyes landed on the emblem on the tail section. It was an image of a woman with fiery red hair that was swirling chaotically tamed only by an ornamental black helmet upon her head.

"Razgriz," Kei said softly from beside me.

"What?"

"That woman is Razgriz," Kei said, the awe in her voice still present and thick. I had already heard of the legendary demon, but I had yet to see a rendering of the fabled figure. As I got closer, I was able to read the writing around the new insignia.

"The Ghosts of Razgriz," I read aloud. "Razgriz Air Command Squadron."

"Like it?" a familiar voice asked from beside me.

"Room, Atten-hut!" Marcus boomed. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stiffened like they had been poked by a needle. The president beside me sighed a little.

"At ease everyone, at ease," the man said waving them off. I noticed that everyone was now a little bit more on mindful of their actions. "I need to get a disguise for visiting military bases," the man muttered to himself before asking his question to me again. "So, you like it?"

"It's impressive, sir," I replied, glancing back at the aircraft.

"I was hoping for an answer like that," the president said looking at the craft himself. "Listen, I need people who I can trust, people who can do the missions like the ones your father did. His absence has created a void that needs filling. Are you willing to fill that void?" Wait, did the president just ask me to work for him?

"Sir?"

"Caden," the man said sending chills down my neck. How many people get to say the president is on a first name basis with them? "You on your own are one of the best pilots I've seen in my lifetime, which, despite how it may seem, is no short time. Then there is your squadron. I've already talked to Captain Snow. He said as long as you were on board, you could count him a permanent member of Razgriz. I need someone with your ability to keep the world form getting crazier than it already is. What do you say?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The president was personally asking for me to be his new covert agent in the war against... war. I looked around for Kei to see her reaction to all this but found she wasn't fairing any better. Her expression was one of a person going into shock.

"Sir," I began, "this offer is one that brings me great pride but it isn't just me who is affected by my choice. I would hope you understand my desire to speak with the rest of my flight before I make any decision."

"Completely understandable," the president said with a hopeful grin. "I wouldn't expect anything less from what I've heard about you. Get back with me as soon as you know your choice. Thank you for considering." The president then nodded to Kei and me before heading towards an exit.

"Room, atten-hut!" Marcus boomed again. I swore I saw the president curse under his breath as he continued to leave the area. As soon as he was out of sight, normalcy returned. At least, as normal as it could be for Kei and myself after hearing such an offer. Before Kei could say anything to me or I could say anything to her, Pop's walked up to us.

"Hey you two, ready for one of my edge of your seat briefings?" he said with his trademark subtle joking tone.

"No offense, Pop's, but it may be a little harder for me to focus on this one," I told the man as I continued to try and recover.

"What do you mean?" the older man asked with genuine curiosity.

"President Harling just offered Caden his dad's old job," Kei managed to say.

"You mean all that secret mission stuff?" Pop's asked after a moment of processing. "Did you take it?"

"I've got to ask the rest of the flight what they think," I replied, finally managing to beat aside all the effects from the president's offer.

"Is it something you want?" Pop's asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure yet," I said glancing at Kei. I would need to speak with her about this a lot more as well. I hadn't lied about wanting a future with her in it. If this job was going to interfere with that...

"Well," Pop's said after another moment of watching me think. "We still have to have that briefing. And it's actually pretty important that you're there completely." What was that supposed to mean?

Within half an hour, our newly named Squadron was in the briefing room. I was trying to think of a good time to bring up the president's offer with them when Pop's walked in effectively silencing the room.

"Okay people, today we're carrying out a reconnaissance mission in order to obtain photographs of the enemy complex. After deciphering the code we received earlier, we've learned that the mining facility in the forest area northwest of Belka is active. An early warning radar network has been spread across the entire forest. To reduce the probability of detection, this mission will be carried out by a single aircraft." The room had been silent before that minor announcement, but as soon as it was out there it seemed like it became as quiet a total vacuum in space. Everyone slowly realized what it meant and soon every face was looking at mine. Pop's now spoke directly to me.

"Try to approach the target under complete electronic silence, evading radar and passive search techniques. Flying at low altitude is an effective method of delaying or denying enemy detection. You will receive instructions on our recon target from the Command Information Center upon arriving in the mission area. The CIC will monitor you from the support camera. Concentrate on slipping through the enemy radar net first. Your plane in this mission will be completely stripped of weaponry." Alone and without weapons. Great choices so far, Pop's. "Instead, it will be equipped with the necessary visual reconnaissance equipment. There is a chance you may encounter the enemy, but your recon mission always takes top priority. Once you take the photos, egress from the target area and return through the enemy defenses as directed. That is all. Good luck." The man left the room but the rest of us continued to sit there.

"Alone?" Petra asked after a couple more seconds.

"Unarmed," I added as I began to get up. "Come on, Petra. We've got a mission to do."


	36. -Speaking Too Soon and Misinterpreting -

**Speaking Too Soon and Misinterpreting Signals**

Not many people talked to me on my way up to the hangar. I guess it was just my mood. Or maybe I was walking to fast.

I didn't know why I was in a bad mood other than this was a bad situation. Pop's sending in only one aircraft I could understand. While we were well rehearsed with flying close to each other as Kei had done numerous times before, one plane reduced any error by a factor of four. But the whole no weapons thing...

I was pulled from my brooding at the sight of the black plane commanded all attention again. Petra was already waiting by the dangerous beauty and was talking with Sylvia. Once she saw me, her fellow CSO fell quiet and walked off before I was within hearing range.

"What was that about?" I asked as I began to get ready to climb into the plane.

"CSO stuff you wouldn't understand," she replied quickly. Too quickly to be a normal response. I ignored it for now. We'd have time to talk when we had to have electronic silence weather Petra wanted to or not.

We launched just as easily as last time but as soon as I was in the air, I realized with a fair bit of panic that I would have to be doing another carrier landing. Trying to distract myself from the inevitable, I began to look for some of the surveillance systems installed on the plane for this mission. There wasn't a single thing different in the cockpit and I began to think we had launched in the wrong plane. Before I said anything, I looked out on the wing and sure enough, there was my number, 016.

"Petra? Where's all this monitoring equipment? I don't see a single button for it."

"You wouldn't," she replied. "I'm in control of it all. Could you imagine trying to control the plane while focusing and panning a camera? You're a great pilot, sure, but this time, I've got a larger role to play than your cuddle-buddy's extra pair of eyes. You've just got to make sure we aren't shot down. Or crash." I saw stupefied into silence. Cuddle-buddy?

"Where did-?"

"What's that?" Petra said quickly.

"'Cuddle-'?"

"Caden, you need to enunciate."

"Wedonotcuddle." I said as quickly as I could. The long bout of silence after my outburst told me that either Petra's equipment had just failed or she had just accomplished something she wanted and was reveling in the silence and Pop's didn't skimp on maintenance.

"Blaze, how you feelin'?" the aircraft maintainer said in a slightly concerned voice. For a moment, I briefly thought back to Reindeer squadron and their leaders' outbursts at his flight members.

"Outstanding, sir," I replied flatly, falling back to the response that we had been drilled to recite to any superior member of the military back when I was in college.

"Alright then," Pop's replied unconvinced. I just hoped there weren't any other people around hearing this back on the ship. "Take a look at your search radar. The enemy's radar range is marked out by those circles. Cooked up that software patch myself," he added with a hint of pride I couldn't help but smile at. I never realized just how many trades Pop's seemed to know a thing or two about. "Make sure you don't enter any of those circles, and fly to the east. Remember, the lower you are, the less likely you'll be picked up."

"Thanks," I told the man, beginning to cool down a little from my small outburst.

"Maintain radio silence until you reach the destination. I'll then explain the target and how to photograph it. Got it?"

"Yup," I replied as the edge of the radar began to show fuzzy circles. I began to drop my altitude and couldn't help the small childish grin that I got at seeing the circles getting smaller.

"Make sure you don't get caught within the coverage area of the enemy radar. Good luck. We'll go into radio silence in a moment. Hang in there until the next transmission." With the older man done giving his advice, my radio faded out into silence. We now had approximately ten minutes to guaranteed privacy.

"I'm sorry for yelling," I said. I then held my breath for a moment, not for Petra's answer however, but because I just entered the threshold of the radar coverage, squeezing between two of the large circular overlays displayed on my search screen.

"It's fine," Petra said while I continued to focus on keeping us out of the bubbles of doom. "I'm sorry for teasing."

"It's fine," I said, copping her response. We were silent a little bit longer before Petra spoke up again.

"So, you two seriously aren't..."

"No," I responded coolly yet swiftly. "Not that it's any of your business anyways," I quickly added.

"What else am I to do?" She asked a little exacerbated. "Everyone in this damn squadron is hooking up with each other and I'm left on my own trying to get juicy details that no one wants to give. I have told you that Sylvia made me throw out my romance collection, right?" She was quiet for a brief moment before she spoke up again. "And don't you try and go play match maker." I couldn't help but ask now that she had used 'you' so condescendingly.

"Not that I ever would, but why would it be such a bad thing for me to-"

"First of all," Petra said interrupting me, obviously knowing I would ask. "The notion of you knowing anything about a woman's wants, let alone mine, is laughable. Kei told me about that little run in you had with 'Dancer.' You're lucky Kei was watching your back. Besides, you didn't even know your own wing-mate had the hots for you, even then." Valid point. "Secondly, Larry is too old and mopey and just not my type, and Marcus..." she got hung up for a moment.

"What?" I asked, wanting to know what she had against the man.

"He seems to be just getting over something," she said, her mood much more toned down and reserved than the high-strung one she had been sporting a moment ago.

"What do you mean?" I asked. If anything, Marcus could be more jovial than Petra at times, and that was from the brief encounters I had with the man thus far. Who knew what he was like the rest of the time.

"I know when people are going through loss, if for no other reason than having gone through it myself," she said after a few short moments. Her voice was very... quiet. Eggshell walking time.

"I'm sorry," I said after another quiet moment. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?" The woman gave an unexpected blip of humorless laughter before speaking fairly quietly.

"Kei said you were one of those sensitive types." She then took an audible deep breath. "It's a conversation for another time. Besides, we're almost to the mission area. We've got to focus." She was right. The radar was starting to show a strange clearing just ahead. With as low as we were to the terrain, I couldn't see why until we rounded a hill that had been blocking my view. There was a long runway running from east to west with multiple buildings along its length. There was a small port-like facility that could barely be called that and a large mountain with a primitive road running to a concrete tunnel I could just barely make out from this distance. I held off from getting closer in fear of the enemy getting a visual read on me. Then the whole sneaking in thing would be pointless. My radio began to whine back to life before Pop's came over the channel.

"All right, you've arrived over the target area. Cancel radio silence." For a brief moment, I thought about the mission we had performed against the Hrimfaxi. Chopper had been all too eager to end radio silence on that one. "I'm monitoring your status with a low-resolution camera," Pop's said, pulling me from the bitter-sweet memory. "Something's being moved from the mine entrance to that transport plane." Wait, what? I glanced at the road leading to the mountain and sure enough, as soon as I squinted, I saw a couple of large military trucks with covers on their backs moving down from the mine. "Okay, let's get a photo with the mine entrance and the transport plane in the frame," Pop's told Petra. I followed her earlier advice and focused on making sure we remained undetected and in the sky.

"Photo received," Pop's said after a couple of seconds. After what I assumed was some silent deliberation, he spoke up again to give another command to Petra. "I see some 8492nd Squadron members, and some planes with the Yuktobanian Air Force mark on them." I nearly failed my one job. We had dealt with them over the mountains! How were they back here?! I had to resist ever fiber of my being that was screaming at me to inflict some form of damage to them. Only the smooth and calculating voice of Pop's lulled me back to my job as the pilot of this reconnaissance mission. "The Belken's are sending aggressors posing as allies over to Yuktobania as well. All right, let's get a shot of both counties' emblems next to each other for evidence." I continued my loitering tactic as Petra adjusted the camera on the modified F-14.

"Photo received," the older man said after a couple more moments. I was starting to get a bad feeling. It would only be a matter of time before we were spotted. Or heard. F-14's were one of the largest fighters in the possession of Osea. It had an audio signature to match. I didn't want to be the un-armed object of attention when over a dozen of Belka's top trained aces took off. "Now, before the two transport planes take off, capture both of them in one shot, got it?" Pop's asked Petra. We remained quiet as we had been the whole rest of the flight when he spoke up again. "Blaze, Petra, we're not under radio silence anymore. You can respond."

"Copy that," we responded in unison. Petra had the angle on the two transports within seconds and sent the photo. Before Pop's could acknowledge he had received it, however, the inevitable happened.

"Patrol to tower, we've got an enemy aircraft loitering out here! Unknown affiliation!" Within seconds, an air raid siren loud enough to be hard from out here sounded off. We needed to get out of here.

"The Grabacr guys are taking off," one of the ground personnel said.

"The enemy won't have time to attack. Ofnir four, go up in thirty seconds."

"Roger, Grabacr three, thirty seconds."

"Blaze," Petra said in a nervous voice. "I think we have thirty seconds to get out of here."

"This is just the evidence we need. Nice work you two. They're coming up after you. Shake them off and return home." I didn't need telling twice. I pulled up and applied full after-burner to get some altitude and speed in one shot with the tomcats massive power plants. If they hadn't heard us before, they heard us now.

"Did you see that?" one of the ground patrols we were picking up asked. "I've never seen anyone climb like that!"

"Yeah..." one of the people in the patrol responded. "That guy's something else..."

"Takeoff complete. Engaging the enemy," the enemy squadrons that were scrambling announced. I was already at 10,000 feet, but the enemy planes were much more advanced than the aging tomcat and were already meeting up with us. It wasn't looking good. "Enemy plane visually confirmed. Black body... Red tail..." there was an unanswered question in the pilots' voice, along with something else. I knew what it was, I had experienced the same sensation when I laid eyes on the fighter the first time. I was just hoping the dumbfoundment would last long enough for Petra and I to make an escape.

"Pixy, do we have anything we can use against these guys?" I asked in desperation.

"These cameras don't even have flash, Blaze!" she replied, her own fear beginning to become apparent. "We don't have any offensive capabilities." I was starting to maneuver around to keep from becoming an easy target for the aggravating fighters when I began to notice the plane being a little sluggish. I checked my panels and noticed the reason why almost immediately.

This had been a long haul mission, far away from where the Kestrel was. As such, we had been given drop tanks to extend our range. They were nearly empty and I was just about to release them when an idea came to me. A stupid idea, but one that would get the fighters off our tail none the less.

"Pixy," I called out, getting the attention of my frazzled CSO. "When I say so, be ready to purge the drop tanks."

"You still haven't dropped them?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Blaze," Pop's said over the radio in a warning tone that I was used to hearing from Kei when she heard one of my bad ideas. "Please tell me you aren't-" I cut the radio off before much more could be said. It was his fault we were in this situation. How hard would it have been to give me at least two sidewinders and some bullets, Pop's? It's not like camera equipment is heavy and bulky.

"There's an emblem on the body," one of our pursuers said as they began to gain on us. "I've never see that one before..." the plane behind us was suddenly joined by four others. I began to recite the plan in my head. It was a long shot but if it worked...

I pulled up with such suddenness, that even Petra let out a little yelp of surprise.

"Enemy pilot taking evasive maneuvers. Grabacr squadron, we're engaging."

"Copy that. Ofnir squadron is on stand-by." The planes behind us began to follow as I pulled up into the sky.

"Pixy, are you ready to purge the tanks?"

"Blaze, don't make me tell you how wrong that sounds," Petra said in a nervous voice that I knew she was trying to hide with humor. Almost like...

"Just do it when I give the command," I replied before I went on another trip down memory lane. The planes behind us were gaining even in this climb. I glanced at my altimeter. 18,000... 19,000... 19,500...

"PURGE," I ordered as I cut thrust completely for a whole second. I glanced at my screen between my legs to see the fuel state in the tanks quickly depleting. As the last bit of fuel left, I reengaged the engines to full after-burner, streaks of flames more than six feet in length jetting out the back of our plane. Luck was on my side today.

The Belken planes that had been following us were either confused as to what the greenish fluid was that was coming from my plane or just didn't see it at all. They were in a haze of kill lust. What they probably did notice was when my engines ignited the greenish fluid that was coming from my plane. They kind of had to notice it because they flew right through it. I certainly noticed it as my plane had a brief moment of uncontrolled acceleration followed by rigorous shaking.

"What the shit?!" one of the ground forces said before anyone. Then the yelps of surprise came from my pursuers. At most, the fireball they flew through would cause them to have an engine failure. At the least, they would be distracted for a precious few seconds. I made the fastest escape I could as the pilots regathered themselves.

"Was verrückte Hurensohn ist dieser Kerl?" one of the pilots asked in their language.

"Pixy?" I called out quickly. "Are you alright?"

"WHAT THE HELL!" she asked in a frenzy. Clearly she was in prime physical condition. Mental... I switched off her radio feed for a moment to keep from losing my hearing and dropped the now empty fuel tanks. I continued on a south east direction to get as far from this place as possible. I wasn't quite sure what I would do if I was perused again. I glanced at the radar behind me and saw only two of the four planes that had been following me still on my tail. Turning my radio back on, I was able to pick up why.

"-turning for repairs. Engine one is toast and the second is sputtering like mad. I thought you said he was unarmed!"

"He was sir! It was just a recon plane!"

"I swear, I'm gonna' report you for your negligence!" I couldn't help but smirk at the havoc my improve attack had caused but all too soon I was reminded it wasn't completely one sided.

"Blaze?! Did you just put me on mute?!"

"I guess the explosion had a temporary affect on our radio," I said coyly.

"Just get us out of here before another one of your suicidal ideas comes to fruition. I'm sick of Belka anyway." I couldn't agree more. We continued our egress and with the two wary pilots now at our six, we didn't have much trouble keeping out of range. It was a relief not having to worry about the radar on the way back. I couldn't imagine trying to fly as low as I had on the way in here to escape. We were just about to exit the area when I saw three signatures on radar that confused me to no end.

"Pixy," I asked as I continued to stare at my radar.

"What?" she asked, clearly still miffed at me but concerned none the less at my beckoning for her.

"Who are those signatures on radar, ten clicks out and right on the nose?" There was a tense silence as Petra worked on finding out who they were.

"I'm not getting valid responses back from them," Petra told me, causing my stomach to plummet to the ground over ten thousand feet below.

"-ze?" I quirked an eyebrow that no one would see at the surprise sound coming over the radio.

"-aptain, ..an you ...ear us?"

"Pixy, you picking that up?" I asked my CSO.

"Yeah, I hear it too. Trying to clear and boost the signal. Those Belken's must've activated some kind of jammer when they spotted us." As Petra continued to fiddle with the radio, the three signatures got closer and closer to us. No doubt about it now that they were on an intercept course.

"Captain Irving? This is Captain Snow. Please come in."

"Swordsman? Where are you? I've got three unidentified aircraft on an intercept course and I'm at fuel state Joker. I could really use some back up right about now."

"Blaze?" Kei asked almost immediately after my transmission. "Blaze, the three signatures are us. Grimm's with us too. We'll be escorting you back." Relief flooded me like a tsunami wave as the three aircraft came into visual range. They were all black bodied tomcats that quickly formed up on my wing.

"We thought we lost you there for a moment, Captain," Grimm spoke up, a clear amount of relief in his own voice. "Once Pop's said he lost radio contact with you, we feared the worst."

"Pixy," Kei said suddenly with a fire in her voice. "Did he do what it sounded like he was going to do?"

"If it sounded like he was going to ignite unspent fuel with frickin' after-burners then yeah, he certainly did just that. You crazy fool," she added at the end of her high strung rant. Her outburst was just a minor first degree burn on my pinkly compared to what I was expecting from Kei though. But my cringing turned out to be surprisingly unnecessary. There was a long drag of silence as I assumed everyone else was expecting an outburst as well.

"Well, at least you're alive. That's what matters." I lost control of what my jaw did as I heard Kei's statement. I must've died or something. This wasn't a reaction Kei was capable of producing. Suddenly, an even more troubling thought came to mind. Maybe this was indeed real life, but she was saving her real speech for a more... private moment. One where physical pain could be inflicted without destroying an aircraft. I was beginning to wish I had died. And that was before we were even near the carrier for a landing.

By the time we reached the carrier, I was running on fumes, so it was quickly decided that I would be landing first. I began to line up with the lights on the carrier as best I could, trying not to think of the very... very short runway. The air boss was giving me every command he could throw out to put me on the dot and I made sure to execute every single one of them as they said it. Once we landed on the deck, I couldn't get out of the plane fast enough. It was only through Petra reminding me we still had to be taken below deck that I remained in the plane for a couple minutes more. When the aircraft was safely stowed away, I hopped out of the cockpit quicker than I ever had before.

"Caden," Pop's said from not too far away. I glanced at the man to see him making his way over to me. "Good to see you're still alive. After I lost radio contact with you-"

"I didn't want another Kei yelling at me about 'bad ideas'," I told the man before he could complete whatever sly remark he had. "Anyways, did you get the intel you needed?" Pop's gave me a stink eye only older people are able to give before speaking again.

"Yes, but it's going to take some time to analyze it. There are some things that don't make sense. Or do, and are just too important to jump to conclusions with. Either way, it's going to be a day or two before we have your squadron deploy again."

"Sounds fine to me," Petra said as she pulled off her helmet and landed on the ground beside me. "This blooming fool tried to blow us up today and I'd prefer some time for him to get his mind straightened out."

"I think there is something else that's going to straighten his mind," Pop's said with a grin and a nod directed behind us. I took a look at where he had directed and saw a sight that almost put as much fear into me as our dark planes.

Kei was marching towards us with so much purpose, it would've put the Belken leaders during the Osean War to shame.

"Shit," I muttered before she got within striking range. Instead of a punch though, I received a grapple.

"Come with me, now," she said threateningly leaving behind a grinning Pop's and a panicked Petra. I glanced back at the duo as I trailed behind Kei. Petra just mouthed, 'Sorry,' to me with a sympathetic face while Pop's said something that looked like, 'good luck.' Or maybe buffalo. Probably good luck.

I didn't bother to speak a word as Kei lead us to our room. I wasn't sure what I could say without making the situation worse. She seemed to be in one of her moods where only time and groveling would make anything better. When she finally got us to our room, she opened the door and gestured for me to enter.

"In," she commanded. I looked at the opened door and then at her. I didn't want to. "Caden, get in that room."

"Kei, I think you need to calm down a little before we-" I stopped speaking as she lunged at me. But instead of receiving any kind of body blows I had seen her deliver to Hamilton or punches I was all but accustomed to, I was assaulted in quite a different way that I actually quite liked. Once she pulled away from my lips and got back down from her toes, she spoke again.

"Can we go into the room now?" I was at a loss as to what to say. This was a completely different outcome than I had been expecting and that fact alone was enough to pulverize my brain. The fact that what had just happened had been so amazing as to turn my pulverized brain into nothing but mush, it was a miracle I was still standing. I managed a faint nod as Kei continued to lead me into the room. Once we were inside, I was able to get enough of my thought processes back to for a few words.

"Kei, I'm sorry for-" she stopped me from saying much more as she kissed me again.

"Not right now," she said once she pulled away again. "Right now, I just need to know you're here." We ended up laying down on one of the small skinny beds together to rest our stressed minds and bodies. It was a tight squeeze, and at first I was nervous that I would be making Kei uncomfortable. But after she assured me she didn't mind, I was at ease enough to fall asleep.

When I woke up, I had a mild panic attack before realizing this was okay. Kei's small bit of laughter told me she found the sudden jump I had quite funny.

"Hey," she said without turning her head back at me, content to keep it just below my chin.

"Hey," I replied, turning slightly so I could respond without my jaw smacking her. Her hair smelled good. "I think we need a bigger bed if this is to continue," I told her as she continued to rest with me.

"I don't know," Kei said a little wistfully. "I kind of like it like this," she said, finally moving enough so I could see the large grin on her face. While I had to admit that I enjoyed being as close to Kei as I was, I wasn't sure I'd be able to sleep like this for the rest of the war. Even with the speed we were trying to end it, my back wouldn't be able to tolerate more than three consecutive nights like this.

"Not saying I don't like this arrangement," I told her as I voiced my opinions, "but these beds were made small for a reason. A reason we've all but defeated but they're putting up a good effort none the less." Kei's smile abated only slightly as she conceded my point, but didn't make an effort to get out of the cramped bed, instead deciding to get even closer to me.

"You're warm," she said, changing the topic.

"People who're alive tend to be that way," I responded. As a counter-proof to my statement, Kei put one of her feet up against my own. "Holy cow!" I said moving my feet away from the ice cold appendage.

"No, don't move," Kei complained trying to get even closer.

"Put some socks on or something," I told her as I continued to move my own feet away from hers. I looked down at Kei's face and from the half that wasn't buried in my shirt I could see she was enjoying herself. Her eyes were closed and her trademark smile wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I stopped my struggle and let the cold soles of her feet make contact. For a moment her smile vanished as her eyes opened.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she looked up at my own face.

"Nothing," I said with a smile as I looked down at her. "I just can't believe I got so lucky." Kei's smile came back in an instant as she rested her head against me yet again.


	37. -Let's Talk-

**Let's Talk**

Kei made sure we were both out of the room before dinner, something about maintaining appearances. However, I wanted to take a shower before going to the mess hall. After some convincing, Kei agreed it was a good idea, again, something about appearances. I quickly washed up and returned to my room to get into a fresh set of clothes.

Upon my arrival at the mess hall, I noticed that some conversations began to die down. I glanced around the room to try and figure out why, but people wouldn't meet my eyes. While I was in line for food, I began to think about what would cause this strange behavior when Grimm waved to me from a table. I had wanted to sit next to Kei, but I didn't see her in the room. I decided that I would wait with Grimm until she came back.

"How bad was it?" my wing-mate asked me as I sat next to him with my meal. I quirked an eyebrow at the question, not knowing what he was referring to right away. Seeming to catch this, Grimm decided to clarify. "Kei seemed pretty angry when you got back, at least, that's what Petra was saying. And judging by the way she flew through here, she didn't seem any bit calmed down either."

"Kei was angry?" I asked bewildered. I had been with her only a couple minutes ago and the only thing I could imagine her being upset over was the small amount of resistance I had given to her attempts at leaching my heat. Now it was Grimm's turn to look confused.

"Well..." Grimm began, starting to look like he had stepped on a mine. "... I don't know her as well as you do... So... I could just be reading it wrong... But, usually, when I see someone storm in and just grab some food without acknowledging anyone, it means they're upset." If Grimm's observations were to be trusted, then Kei was definitely upset about something. But she was happy just moments ago, what caused her to change?

"I guess I'll need to talk to her about that," I said as I began to eat some re-hydrated potatoes. Not enough milk in this batch. Wait... If the milk was also powdered...

"Something wrong, Capt- Blaz- Caden?" Grimm said as he shook his head each time he began to stumble.

"I'm eating powder within powder." I said simply as I continued to stare at my potatoes.

"She didn't hit you in the head, did she?" Grimm asked cautiously.

"What?" I asked as the ridiculous question was proposed. "No, she didn't hit me in the head." Grimm just continued to look at me in a slightly worried state until Sylvia came to sit at his side with her own tray of food. Once she was at his side, any attention that had been directed at me was stolen.

"Hello Caden, nice to see you're still alive. I swear, that was the fastest I've ever seen Kei get out of her plane," the woman explained as her curly red hair bounced around with her animated statement.

"Yeah, well, after that stunt with the fuel, I wouldn't have blamed her if she made you a cripple. Least then you wouldn't be running the risk of blowing us all up," Petra said as she walked up to the table from behind me to sit on my left side. She flashed a quick smile at her fellow CSO as she sat down and took a drink from her cup.

"What happened to the 'good luck'?" I asked her in mock astonishment.

"Well, you're still alive," Petra responded as she put down her glass, a small milk mustache staying on her upper lip. "So I'd say it worked. Now I get to dish out what I need to," Petra said with a smile that told me she had no idea about the white line on her upper lip. I decided to keep that information hidden from her for the moment.

"Mind if I join you?" a deep voice asked from our right. We all turned and saw who was easily the tallest member of our flight.

"No need to ask, Marcus," I told the man as he approached. He gave us a large smile that stood out against his darker skin.

"So I see you're still kicking," He remarked as he took a seat to my right.

"I see scuttlebutt still gets around quickly with a skeleton crew," I responded with an exaggerated sigh, causing him to smile slightly more.

"The 3rd Osean Naval fleet has been around since 1503," the man began, giving me a small history lesson. "I'd be surprised, and a little disappointed, if a tradition that's been around since then stopped merely because of a smaller crew." The older captain then gave a small smirk. "Besides, you and Captain Nagase are the stand-in for our entertainment. We haven't got a good television signal in a month."

"Hey," I said quickly, not wanting to be outmatched in the exchange. "I'm not the one who put us together in the same room." Marcus was just as quick with his response.

"Neither was I," he said quickly with a sly smile. I stopped for a moment at that. Either it was an outright lie or some convoluted truth. Seeing my confusion, Marcus decided to help me out. "Let's just say that roommate arrangement was done because of a friend I owed a favor to." I was still confused but Marcus stopped his information give-away and resumed eating his potatoes.

"So you two share a room, huh?" Petra said to me suggestively as she elbowed me in the ribs. I whipped around to defend myself to see her eyebrows wriggling around as well. Despite her jab to make me frustrated or upset, I couldn't help but snort out a laugh at the woman with her mustache still in place.

"What's so funny Capt- Caden?" Grimm asked as he looked over at me for the first time since Sylvia joined the table. Then he noticed the comic look of Petra. Eventually, everyone at the table was snickering at a confused Petra. Seeming to catch that it was something to do with her face, she grabbed a spoon to quick check her reflection.

"Oh my-" she said, quickly bringing up her sleeve to wipe off the offending feature. "That's not funny. Why did no one tell me?" she asked the table.

"Wait," Marcus began. "You mean you don't usually have a mustache?" he asked, his speech being interrupted by a stray laugh every few words.

"No," Petra muttered as she continued to hide her face with her arm. I then remembered that I had to speak with everyone about the president's proposal for a more permanent position as defenders of peace.

"Hey," I began, getting everyone's attention. "While I've got you all here, I need to tell you something." Then I looked around the room. Maybe the mess hall wasn't the best place to be discussing something so... Secretive. "On second thought, meet me in the briefing room later today. Maybe, 2100?" I asked everyone at the table. Grimm and Sylvia both seemed to be in sync as they simultaneously looked up towards their brains in thought. Petra was pretty quick to nod in agreement and a moment later, Grimm and Sylvia seemed to both reach the conclusion that they would be free. After Marcus gave a verbal response of, 'sure,' I was satisfied enough to continue. "Okay, meet me in the briefing room at 2100. I've got something important to discuss with you all."

Our meal time chat and get together continued quite amicably with people around us even joining in on some of the friendly jibes we threw at each other. Around 1900, I got up from the table to see if I couldn't find Kei or Larry and inform them on the meeting we would be having later tonight. My first place to check was the flight deck and I was glad it was.

"Hey, Cap," Larry said as he threw me a lazy salute. He seemed to be in thought as I walked out onto the flight deck with him which was otherwise empty.

"Hey yourself," I said back as I sat down next to him.

"Need me for something?" Larry asked after a couple moments of silence. I had been starring at the falling sun as was my usual habit when it began to look beautiful and had momentarily forgot the purpose of my visit.

"I'm having a flight meeting at 2100 tonight to talk about something pretty important. Kind of need you to be there," I said as I looked over at the man. He had a look in his eyes that told me he had been reflecting on things before I had walked up on him, and part of me was upset with myself for interrupting his meditation.

"2100, got it," the man said with a forced pleasant smile, telling me the things he had been meditating on had not been pleasant in nature. I briefly thought about the story he had told me about how he had betrayed Kei's father's friendship and trust. I decided to leave Larry with his thoughts. There wasn't really anything I could say or do to counsel him. Or so I thought. As I got up and started leaving, the man suddenly spoke up. "Hey, Irving?" he said over his shoulder, a conflicted look on his face like he was debating asking something or not.

"What's up?" I asked turning to face him. He looked at me for another couple of moments before turning back towards the golden sky and sighed.

"Do you think it's too late for me?" he asked finally.

"To late for you?" I asked confused and seeking clarification.

"To ask forgiveness?" he replied, still looking into the sun. I decided that Kei could wait a while longer to find out about the meeting. I walked back over to Larry and sat down again. "You know I've done some shitty things, and that's just the stuff I've told you," he said glancing at me a little, not wanting to make full eye contact with me. "Takuma was the closest thing I had to a brother. Growing up, I had a family that couldn't give two shits about me, so him and I, we took care of each other. We shared in each other's accomplishments, victories, defeats, sorrows, everything. So when he got married... Of course I was happy for him, but in a way, I sort of got left behind, at least, that's how it felt. My best friend, my brother, didn't fly with me anymore. It felt so weird to be up there without him, without family. So I began to fill that void. And I filled it with the wrong people." Larry hung his head as the golden light of the sun began to turn to a darker red.

I continued to sit quietly as Larry gathered himself. "I got a phone call one day while I was doing some merc work in Sotoa. He had a kid and couldn't come down from his high. He told me I was an uncle." Larry looked at me now with bleary eyes. "An uncle," he repeated. "My brother still considered me just that, and I tried to kill him." He took a shaky breath, trying in vain to calm himself. "After what I've done, I wouldn't blame Takuma if he tried to blast off my head, but I've been so alone for the last fifteen years. I just want my brother back." The sun was long gone now, only a faint strip of red on the horizon letting me know it had once been in the sky.

"It's not too late," I said finally, speaking for the first time in almost fifteen minutes. Larry chuckled morbidly.

"Easy for you to say," he said dismissively.

"Hey," I said sharply, not wanting to stand around and be asked for an opinion only for it to be dismissed. "You need to snap out of this pity party of yours and get on with life." Larry looked up to me with a twinge of anger in his eyes, but I kept going. The truth hurt but needed to be said. "You're wasting time and energy feeling sorry for yourself when that effort could be put to use mending the relationships you've ruined. In case you haven't noticed, you've got a niece on this ship and you avoiding her isn't helping your situation any. She's going to be hostile to you at first, I can probably guarantee you that, but if you can make good with her, it's going to go a long ways towards getting your brother back." The anger Larry had moments ago was now replaced by a thoughtful gaze towards the dark water. I glanced at my watch and saw I still had about thirty minutes to find Kei before the meeting I had arranged would start. I got up to leave Larry with his thoughts.

"2100?" Larry asked while I was getting up.

"Yeah," I replied as I headed back inside without another word exchanged between us. I began to head towards my room in hopes that Kei would be there. When I approached the door and heard movement inside, I knew I was in luck. Deciding I should be careful entering unannounced, I banged on the door before entering. "Kei? You in there?" I asked loudly enough for my voice to go through the metal door. It quickly was opened up by a slightly out of breath woman.

"Hey, there you are. Where have you been? Grimm told me there was going to be a briefing in a little bit."

"Yeah," I said, trying to get a look inside the room which Kei was hiding with the door. "I'm going to tell them about the president's proposal and see what they think," I replied as I continued to crane my neck to try and glimpse inside. "What are you doing in there?" I asked at last as Kei continued to block my vision.

"You'll see later," she said with a small smile. "Why don't you go find Larry and tell him about the meeting. No one's seen him in a while so I doubt he knows."

"Actually, I just got done talking to him. He'll be there and he might want to talk to you," I told her, causing her small smile to vanish and a slight frown to take its place.

"Caden,-" she began, looking like she was about to go into a little lecture.

"Just let him talk to you," I interrupted before she could begin. "He really just wants to talk to you and I think you should let him. He has some pretty serious problems that he needs to deal with and part of that process is speaking to you. The least you can do is let him talk." Kei gave me her stink eye mixed with the best frown she could manage. "Do it for me," I told her after a moment of silence. She held out a few more seconds before her frown collapsed and she closed her eyes.

"Fine," she said dejectedly. "But you'll owe me. A lot."

"Put it on my tab," I told her casually as I began to walk away since she wouldn't let me into my own room. With only a couple of minutes until the brief to go anyways, I decided to head to the briefing room. Almost as soon as I got done making the room ready, Sylvia and Grimm showed up. They were obviously surprised to see me because as soon as they entered the room, they quickly parted their hands. I just smiled at their attempt as Petra came in behind them.

"Oh, don't stop on account of us," Petra said as she walked up to the front of the room, clearly having watched Grimm and Sylvia hold hands the entire way to the room. Sylvia's pale face became a nice shade of red along with Grimm's, but what Grimm did next surprised me. With as much gusto as an embarrassed man can muster, Grimm took Sylvia's hand again and sat on the side opposite of Petra. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, Petra having an almost identical reaction. Grimm just continued to stare straight ahead ignoring our looks while Sylvia first looked down at their hands and then at Grimm's face. She then whispered something into his ear that did what shouldn't have been possible and made him turn redder. But his straight face now had a goofy grin.

Soon to follow was Marcus followed by Kei. Just before my watch told me it was 2100, Larry walked in and took a seat that was as far away from everyone without being disrespectful to me.

"Well," I began, taking a brief moment to look over everyone before beginning in full, "now that everyone is here, I can begin. As you all know, this ship currently holds the president in addition to us. Right now, Wardog..." I caught myself, we weren't Wardog anymore. We stopped being the squadron when Osea declared us traitors. "Razgriz squadron currently serves as the personal squadron for the president in his effort to end this foolish conflict with Yuktobania and stop the Belken aggressors. What you may not know is that the president has offered to extend this service past this conflict; for us to act as his personal squadron even after the conflict ends." I looked around the room to see what kind of reaction there was and for the most part, everyone was wearing the same expression. Confusion.

"There have been and always will be countries, organizations, and people out there who will want to plunge the world into chaos," I began anew, trying to clarify the need the president was trying to fill. "Our role as the President's personal squadron would be to neutralize these threats to peace before they become a problem that must be dealt with a whole nations military. Now, I want you all to voice any feelings you have about this proposition either now or in the next week with me, other flight members, anyone who's relevant, really. We'll have another meeting like this one to make a final decision but I wanted to get your input before I gave an answer to Harling. With that said, does anyone have questions they would like to ask now?" I stood at the front of the room, waiting for anyone to ask any question. Grimm was the first to crack.

"Would we be in the same squadron and everything? I mean, would our group change at all?" After Grimm finished his statement, a couple of other heads nodded in the room.

"As far as I know," I began, glancing around the room, "we would be staying together. In all honesty, the president wants this bad enough that he will probably concede a lot of points to us, so even if it wasn't originally in his plan, I could probably make it a condition." The people in the room seemed to digest this for a moment before another person asked a question. This person just so happened to be sitting right next to the last person who had voiced a concern.

"Will we be regulated like a military unit or would we be more hands off like we are now?" Sylvia asked. Immediately, both Petra and Marcus laughed, causing the woman who had just spoken to turn beet red alongside her companion.

"As it's been explained to me," I started, trying my best not to join in with the laughter else be criticized of being hypocritical, "we would be more like a PMC than a normal military unit. Again, we've got most the bargaining chips here so we would be able to specify conditions." Doing her best to hide her embarrassment, Sylvia only nodded and held tightly to Grimm's hand, an action that was reciprocated by the man. There was a long awkward silence before I decided I would close the meeting and hope others would come to me in their own time for the duration of the rest of the week.

"Okay, well, if that's all the questions for this evening, then I'll call this meeting over. Thanks for your time and your concerns." Everyone began to get up from their chairs and leave the room, exception being Kei who just sat in her chair and grinned at me. She had a funky smile on her face that had been somewhat distracting during the whole meeting and now that it was just her in the room, my curiosity couldn't be placated any longer. Luckily, I didn't have to ask any questions as she was the first to speak.

"Pretty good meeting, I'd say," she said, still not getting up from her chair. Deciding I wouldn't be the first to move, I continued to stand at the front of the room as I gave my reply

"Would've been better if more questions had come up," I replied, voicing how I really felt. I had hoped that there would've been more than two questions asked. This was an important decision after all and affected everyone in the squadron.

"I'm sure more people will come to you on their own," Kei said comforting me a little. "They just need time to think about some good questions."

"How about you," I asked, starting to wonder why Kei still hadn't gotten up from her chair.

"What?" Kei asked, a slightly confused element playing into her smile that still hadn't left her face.

"Got any questions for me? About all of this?" I asked as I waved my hand around to indicate everything by motioning to nothing in particular. Kei's grin returned within half a second. She finally decided to stand up but didn't come towards me.

"I've got questions for you, but I think I'd rather discuss them somewhere a little more comfortable. And private." With that, she made for the door of the room leaving me behind for half a second in the room. I made sure to return the brief room to its original condition and then made my way towards our room. Outside the door waiting for me was a still smiling Kei.

"I'm starting to think you've done something," I said, failing to keep a smile off my face.

"What ever could give you that idea?" Kei asked with mock innocence.

"What did you do in our room?" I asked, remembering that Kei had refused to give me admittance earlier.

"I think I'd rather show you than talk about it our here," Kei said, finally opening the door and ushering me inside. When I was completely inside, Kei joined me and shut the door while I continued to look at her handiwork. "It's not much of an improvement in terms of horizontal space," she began, assessing the look on my face, "but as you can see, there is a marked difference in terms of room for your giant head." On the ground were two mattresses that had been... Forcibly removed from their original locations. These mattresses clearly hadn't been designed to come out from their positions and had evidence of tearing and ripping around some of their edges. They were side by side, allowing for twice the width of a normal bed, but even together, there was barely five and a half feet of width. But, as Kei had pointed out, there was absolutely no chance of me hitting my head on anything above me.

"I see you were busy," I managed to say after a few seconds of silent observation.

"Yeah, well," Kei replied, looking from me to the two mattresses she had torn up. "When I want something to happen, there's little that can stop me." I nodded slightly before looking back at her.

"So, you want this?"

"Well, yeah," Kei said looking back at me. "It was nice this afternoon. I mean, being together that is. The small space and your back hurting, that probably wasn't so great for you, but I still enjoyed it," she finished her smile still present. However, it began to be replaced by a look of concern. "Do you want this?"

"Only if you're okay with it," I replied. Clearly, this was the wrong answer. Kei slumped her shoulders a bit and tried not to look too dejected. "What? What's wrong?" I asked her as I took one of her hands in mine.

"Nothing," she said unconvincingly.

"Kei..." I said, trying to get her to talk to me as I brought her hand up to my face.

"It's just..." Kei swayed back and forth a little before coming to face me, taking control of her hand and rubbing my face. "I can tell that this kind of makes you uncomfortable, and I can understand that, I really can," she told me meaningfully. "I mean, we've really only known each other for what? About three months? And we've been a couple for even less time than that. Hell, even the term couple isn't quite an accurate word for what we are." I wanted to say something to get her to stop but she did it herself with her next point.

"But when I'm with you," she began, taking my hand and pulling it down for examination, avoiding my eyes as she just ran her fingers over it like she was memorizing it, "it feels so familiar, so right. It's hard to remember how I felt before I met you, and to be honest, I don't really want to remember how that felt anyway. Every time I fly with you, it's so unlike anything I've ever experienced with anyone else, it gives me goose bumps just thinking about it." Suddenly, she looked back up at me. "You remember that evening back in Oured?" she asked with pleading eyes, as if they were needed for me to even consider thinking about that night. "The one after the trial where Chopper and Grimm were passed out and you were going to go sleep in the cot?" I nodded at her question, remembering the night clearly. It was the night her and I had shared a bed. "That night, despite all the crap that happened that day, that night, I slept the best I ever had in a long time." She stared up at me long and hard before sighing gently and dropping her head down into my chest.

"Caden, I don't want to do anything that'll make you uncomfortable," Kei murmured into my shirt. "I'll go ahead and put the beds back." Before she could do anything, I put my arms around her effectively preventing her from doing such a thing. "What are you-"

"I don't want you to put them back," I told her plainly.

"But I don't want to make you uncomfortable," she persisted as she tilted her head up to me.

"Kei," I began, loosening my hold around her so I could better look into her eyes. "The only time you've made me uncomfortable was this afternoon when you forced us into that tiny bed." Her face immediately became disparaged. "But," I quickly added, "even then, it wasn't directly because of you. It was because we were in a tiny bed. You fixed the tiny bed issue." A small smile played across her face as she let her head come back down to my chest.

"I'm glad you like it," Kei said finally. "That was way too much work to not even use it," she said. I didn't even have to look down at her to know she was smiling. Once we had settled into the bed, I realized Kei had yet to tell me what she thought of the president's proposal.

"So," I began as Kei rested her head right next to mine. "Now that we are somewhere that's most definitely more comfortable and private, what are some of those questions?" Before she responded, Kei took my hand again and began to run her hands over it again like she had a few minutes ago.

"Well," she started, inspecting each of my digits with care. "My biggest question would be how often we get deployed. I really do want to have a normal life one day," she began, before giggling a little. "At least, as normal a life I can have with you."

"Hey," I said with mock hurt, pulling my hand from hers. "I can be normal." Not missing a beat, Kei took my hand again and squirmed just enough to put a kiss on my cheek.

"Caden," she started a small bit of laughter in her voice as she massaged my hand. "I probably wouldn't like you nearly as much as I do if you were normal. Anyways, like I was saying, I wouldn't want to be off fighting some covert war all the time and not be able to spend time with you and build our relationship. Sure, we got to where we are that way, but that can't be all we ever do."

"I understand," I told her, nudging her head with my own.

"Along those lines, I'd like to know that we could get out any time we decided, that we wouldn't be bound or contracted to stay in." I realized that I hadn't even though about these kinds of things. I began to thank my stars I hadn't just said yes to the presidents offer right off the bat.

"You're so insightful," I told Kei with a small sigh of contentment.

"Mmm," she simply hummed, making me shiver just a bit. I suddenly remembered what Grimm had said earlier today in the mess hall.

"Hey," I began, getting Kei's attention. "Were you angry getting lunch this afternoon?"

"Huh?" Kei asked, clearly thrown off by the question.

"Grimm said you were all huff-puffy when you came into the cafeteria today for lunch."

"Oh," Kei said, seeming to remember what I was referencing. "Well, I was supposed to be mad with you, remember?"

"But you weren't right?"

"Well, maybe a little," Kei admitted as she pet my arm. "But not as much as I pretended to be. Had to keep up appearances."

"Right," I replied. So that was what she had meant by appearances. Mystery solved.

"Goodnight, Caden," Kei said as she settled down for sleep.

"Night, Kei." I then proceeded to have one of the best nights of sleep I had ever had.


	38. -Quadity-

**Quadity**

The next day was still more or less relaxed. We still didn't hear anything from Pop's about the photos Petra and I recovered, and from what little I did hear from the people who were going over them, it wasn't good. The next day proved just how bad it was.

"Analysis of the surveillance photos taken on the previous mission has been completed," Pop's began with a heavy sigh as we all filtered into the briefing room. "They reveal a tactical nuclear weapons stockpile facility, a remnant from the war fifteen years ago. These weapons are hidden in a mine and we believe they are about to be retrieved and deployed by the two aggressor squadrons in Osea and Yuktobania." Everyone looked at one another in deafening silence after that, not daring to believe what they just heard. I was stunned speechless. We had sat on this information too long. Once they knew we were in the area, they would've accelerated time-lines. Those nuclear weapons were long gone by now.

"The President has made his decision," Pop's said after a moment, gathering all of our attention. "You are to destroy the entrance to the mine before anymore nuclear weapons are removed from the shaft and bury those weapons of evil inside for good. This mission will be carried out with the usual four craft formation. Only powerful and numerous weapons on target will destroy the rock face above the entrance." Pop's inhaled once again, slowly and steadily. "Good luck out there," he said before walking out of the room, with us following soon after.

"'Powerful and numerous,'" Petra muttered from behind me as she adjusted some straps on her flight suit. "What do you think that's going to mean?"

"Slow and heavy," I grumbled as I entered the hangars with the planes and was not surprised to see each plane loaded down with four Mk 84's each. Continuing to frown, I climbed up into my plane, finding my helmet already in my seat. Within ten minutes, we were all up in the air and flying towards the target I had reconed two days prior. It didn't take long for someone to speak up.

"Today will be easy since we don't have to worry about any radar. Right, Captain?" He then seemed to realize something and quickly added. "...Ah, well, I mean, not that I'll be slacking off, of course."

"Chill out, Grimm," I said, a small smile coming to my face. "Today's going to be easy not because of the radar, but because of all of you guys. The Belken's have nothing on us."

"Blaze, Archer, don't get too cocky," Kei reprimanded. I heard Petra give a small snort of laughter before she got control of herself.

"I can't believe you flew around this place all by yourself," Sylvia commented. "Just thinking about those bloody nukes up ahead gives me the goose bumps."

"Those nukes are exactly why the Belken's have lowered themselves to sneaking around, pitting two countries against each other," Marcus began, clear disdain for the people he was speaking of in his voice. "You give a man enough weapons, he'll start to think he's more powerful than he really is," he finished sagely.

"I'm sick of seeing all this hatred everywhere we go," Kei breathed out lowly. "We can't let those nukes reach the battlefield and fuel more hate. I won't let it happen," she finished with determination.

"Blaze? How are you doing?" Pop's asked. We were just outside the operations area. Today was much clearer than when I had gone by myself and looked like it would be at least a little easier, regardless of what Kei said. "I tell you," Pop's began, not waiting for an answer from me. "Nothing beats flying in perfect formation with your comrades. In the past, I flew alone, to do battle against my own country." there was a small sound on the radio, like a throat being cleared. No one seemed to comment on it, but I knew who had made it and why. Larry was still fighting all of his feelings of betrayal and the small comment Pop's had made probably brought them all to the forefront of his thinking.

"But look at you," Pop's said in his unawareness. "You've got all your friends here, don't you think so?"

"Yeah," I said a little more distantly than I had meant to. Sure, almost all my friends were here at the moment, but there was one that was missing and would continue to be absent forever.

"I know the pain of losing a comrade is great," Pop's said, his exuberance gone now that he had caught my thoughts. "But the ones that are left will always lift your spirits again." Quiet once again filled the skies as we flew in towards our target. It wasn't long until we got our first enemy transmissions.

"They're carrying an emblem I've never seen before," an enemy pilot said after a moment.

"Enemy planes spotted. All units, prepare for air-to-air combat," another enemy voice said.

"Sounds like our mission just got a little harder," Larry said in false enthusiasm.

"Okay people," I began, wanting to address everyone before things got too heavy. "We can do this, just get in, drop your payload, and get out. Let's not stick around longer than we have to."

"Sounds good to me," Grimm said almost as soon as I had stopped speaking. "To tell you the truth, the thought of nuclear weapons just terrifies me." Grimm paused for a moment before asking a question that we all knew the answer to, but remained inexplicably hopeful against. "Do you think they've already carried out nuclear weapons?" In response, I gave a deep sigh. Hearing this, Kei spoke up.

"Blaze, it's too soon to give up. There may still be something we can do."

"Archer, we'll do the best we can. That's all there is to it," Marcus said to the younger pilot. Our radars then began to pick up enemy planes flying up to meet us.

"Archer, Swordsman, you two split off and try and carry out your bombing runs first. Edge and I will tango with these guys and give you an opening."

"Copy that Captain," Grimm replied promptly as he broke off with snow and began to dive for the deck. Kei and I accelerated towards the enemy pilots to make ourselves the more immediate threat, giving them no choice but to focus solely on us. Warning alarms began to blare and Kei and I broke off in separate directions to keep them from turning into even more annoying alerts. The enemy planes were advanced fighters, two Su-47's and two F-23's. I began to think about the operation where we had saved the president and the advanced capabilities of the Widows we had fought there.

"Edge, keep an eye out on these planes. I have a feeling that they've got a few tricks we don't know about yet."

"Copy that, but it's you who should be watching out. Looks like they have an affinity to your ass." I was about to make a smart remark about how they weren't the only ones when I glanced into my mirrors placed around the edges of my canopy. All four planes were now trailing me.

"Petra, what's it looking like?" I asked, a worried edge in my voice.

"It ain't pretty," she said in a panicked voice. "They must have some kind of electronic warfare suite because I can't get the missiles to arm. They're messing with our computer systems. They've already compromised the first and second channels on the FBW systems. You need to do something quick, I don't know how much longer I can keep them out." That sprung me into action. I initiated a full stop, deploying any flaps that would slow me down, airspeed advantage be dammed. My plane rapidly shuddered and lost speed, my wings deploying to their extended configuration in an attempt to give me more lift. The enemy planes tried to slow down, but with the Su-47's inherently unstable wings and the F-23's lack of many control surfaces to begin with, they still flew past me. I then applied full after-burn in an attempt to catch up with them again.

"Edge," I called out, not being disappointed with her response time.

"Blaze, what's the matter?"

"We need to take those planes out, fast. While they're still up here, I can't arm any of my weapons, and that means no bombs. I've still got my cannon, but I'm going to have to get in close. I need you to stay close to me."

"You don't have to ask twice," Kei said as her plane suddenly popped up next to me.

We began to close in on the planes that had rushed me seconds ago. I began to trail one of the Widows, closing in as quickly as I could before the plane sped up and left me in the dust. Once I got within gun range, the plane began to pull up, trying with diligence to get out of my view. I stuck with them though, pulling my nose a couple yards a head of the plane to get a leading shot. I pulled down on the rigger with a spasm of energy, striking the plane right in the middle of its frame. A few more cannon rounds later and the plane was out of action as the pilot bailed from the obviously defunct plane.

"Enemy planes on our six!" Sylvia suddenly shouted, causing me to react first and think later as I rolled off to the left. Kei's synchronization with me made sure that we both rolled the same direction yet have enough room for safe maneuvering. We began to pitch up and put on some positive G's in an attempt to circle around and intercept the fighters. The remaining Widow couldn't hope to keep up with our sudden deceleration and sharp turn. The Berkut's however...

"Shit!" Petra yelled out as yellow tracers began to streak by. I managed to fly through the bullets without harm but Kei's plane was a different story.

"Crap, lost hydraulics on my right wing," Kei said as she continued to fly behind and to the right of me, albeit with less precision and grace than before.

"You okay?" I asked, worried now about our chances of survival dwindling second by second.

"For now, but we need to get these guys taken care of. Sylvia's making due with the back-up systems at the moment, but I won't be able to stay with you on more intense maneuvers," Kei said, worry lacing her statements.

"Archer, Swordsman, how are things on your end?" I asked with urgency.

"They've got enough anti-air measures around this mountain to put Oured to shame, Blaze. We've been dodging and diving the last couple minutes just trying to get close." The situation wasn't looking good. Kei was no longer at peak performance, the enemy planes were on the verge of causing us to malfunction and fall out of the sky, and there was enough anti-aircraft measures to warrant this being the new capital of Belka. In the midst of all this, Larry came up with an idea.

"Blaze, Edge, lure the enemy planes over to our position. These Belken pilots strike enough fear into their subordinates that they wouldn't dare make the error of shooting one of them down on accident." I was about to ask if that would really work, but then I remembered that this wasn't Larry's first encounter with Belken pilots before.

"Kei, will your plane make it over to the others?" I asked hurriedly, trying in earnest to make sure that the three remaining planes wouldn't go after Kei and wouldn't get a shot at me either.

"Just keep them off of me and I'll make sure to deliver this payload," she said with determination that I remembered hearing back when she had told Thunderhead that I would be leading the formation and that she wouldn't be losing me back at the beginning of the war. It sent chills down my arms and spine.

"Copy, just... Stay safe."

"Hard isn't it?" she replied, the slightest of smirks detectable in her voice. I supposed that I was deserving of a little retribution for all the worry I had put her through, but doing it in the middle of a dire dogfight was a little low. I didn't respond to her small jaunt and just focused on the remaining three planes.

"Petra, how are we looking?" I asked as I began to finally get a good line on a Berkut.

"Still holding out by a thread. I'm putting as much as I can into trying to get your missiles back but don't count on it. I still have my hands full keeping them out of the FBW systems." Hearing this, I applied what little speed I had over the Berkut and opened fire, missing the center of the plane by a little over a half meter and causing both the right wing and engine to fail catastrophically.

"They've stopped firing!" Grimm said excitedly as Kei and I finally joined up with him and Marcus.

"Drop your payload quickly then," I said in between grunts as I once again began a turning war with another Berkut.

"Bombs away," Marcus said as he released his payload. A moment later, I heard a distant yet still impactful explosion.

"They're bombing the munitions entrance!" One of the remaining pilots shouted over the radio.

"So that plane yesterday was a recon plane..." the other pilot said. "No matter, the cargo was airlifted out yesterday," the pilot remarked offhandedly, bringing my hopes plummeting to the ground. "Still," the pilot continued, a thoughtful tone about him, "how was he able to fight back?"

"Who cares?!" the other pilot said with a fury that was totally transparent over the radio. "The number sixteen plane is MINE!" the pilot practically screamed into the radio. What was this guy's beef with me?

"Bomb's released," Grimm said, his words quickly being followed by explosions of his own.

"BLAZE!" Petra suddenly yelled, pulling me from any thoughts about how much more ordinance would be needed for this tunnel. She didn't need to tell me more as I now saw the F-23 in my review mirrors. I could also see the missile bay doors of the underside of the plane were deployed. Which wasn't good. I knew that the plane would be expecting me to pull up. It's what you do in situations like that. So I decided that I would be breaking logic that day, because, why not? I shoved the flight stick up and entered a negative G dive.

"What the-?" the pilot who had been ranting about how I was his exclaimed clearly surprised by my move. His wing mate who had been trailing had a little more time to react and took his place on my tail.

"This is Edge, ordinance has been delivered to the target. Still no structural collapse though." I was too busy at dodging incoming bullets to respond though, so Petra took the liberty of doing that, though, she was barely able to focus on that task as she also had her hands full trying to keep us in the sky in her own way.

"This is Pixy... Er... Blaze is... Shit," she stumbled in her communication as a bullet finally made impact on my right wingtip. At first, I thought the damage was mostly superficial, but then a wispy cloud began pouring out of it, a slight green in its color. "Crap," Petra began again, talking to me this time. "Blaze, we're leaking fuel. We need to-" however, Petra was never able to finish that statement because she was interrupted by the enraged Belken who had been following me in the F-23.

"Du Schwachkopf! Er ist mein!" the man yelled. Suddenly, the Berkut behind me disappeared in an explosion of red and yellow.

"Did he just?!" Sylvia said in a gawking tone.

"Yeah..." Larry commented in a tone that told me it wasn't a new thing that he had just witnessed. I however, still had a fuel leak and a deranged Widow behind me. I decided to give this guy a run for his Marks. I dove for the deck and began to line up a run.

"Petra, can you arm the bombs?" I asked as I continued to swerve to avoid the incoming fire yet still maintain my course.

"Yes, but, I can't get the codes to allow release."

"Come on Grimm. We need to help out the captain. We've done all we can here."

"Copy that, moving to engage the bandit." I wanted to tell my two wing mates to stay where they were, that this pilot was too loose a cannon, but in all honesty, I needed help and they would've just ignored me anyways. So I decided to use my breath a little more productively.

"What is the G rating on the pins holding those bombs to the plane?" I asked to anyone who would answer.

"Too high for that," Kei said, immediately catching on to what I planned to do.

"Wait, what?" Petra asked, even more concern and panic leaking in to her voice.

"Petra," I asked as I performed another barrel roll to avoid more gunfire. This guy had to be running out soon. "What's the highest G load you've experienced?" I finished as I came even closer to the target.

"Seven, maybe eight. Why?"

"Arm the bombs and get ready for a new record," I responded plainly as I began to brace myself as well.

"New record? Caden, what are you doing?"

"Are the bombs armed?"

"Yes but-"

"Just remember to grunt," I interrupted as I hit a manual override for the control surfaces, giving me full range of motion and then punching the throttle, giving as much speed as the engines could produce. Then, when I was within range of the mountain, I pulled up. I slammed into the seat of my plane and heard the creaking of metal all around me, complemented by a distant, strange meld between a ping and snap. My vision darkened and color left me as I continued the turn. I couldn't hold my head up and lost the fight to keep it from slamming into the back of my seat. As my pitch continued to rise, my vision continued to narrow and drain, the featureless sky starting to become disorienting to my impaired mind. I felt a distant connection to my hand and forced it to stop pulling back with the remaining strength and mental capacity I had.

As the plane stopped its climb, a strange flood of feelings came over me. The first being a strange coldness in my cheeks and chest, then a itching sensation followed very quickly by a bloated sensation in my legs and feet. Last was the re-acquiring of the sense sound.

"- is down, I repeat, enemy is down." Marcus finished saying.

"Blaze? Can you hear me? Please, respond!" Kei said in a worried tone.

"... Still... Here," I managed, trying to take deep breaths and focus on flying my plane again.

"Pixy, Come in." Sylvia said after my wobbly transmission. There was no response from the CSO. I glanced back and saw that the visored and helmeted head of my CSO was hanging loosely in front of her.

"I think she passed out," I responded, a little more together than before.

"The tunnel is collapsed," Grimm informed us. "Let's get out of here before they send reinforcements."

"Good plan. We need to see what condition Petra's in as well," Larry commented. I was quick to throw in my support. However, Kei had a valid concern to bring to light.

"Blaze, you're losing fuel and it took a drop tank to get you here. You're not going to make it back without refueling."

"I've got that covered," a new voice said over the radio.

"Mr. President?" Marcus asked just as surprised as the rest of us.

"Don't worry about it. Just maintain radio silence on your way back and I'll be sure to set something up." I was very curious about how much the president could do from the isolated ship. He had said that he had tried contacting his administration, but all his transmissions were marked as propaganda from people on the inside and never reached the ears they needed to.

About halfway back, I began to get worried. I would only be able to stay in the air for another five minutes and was starting to think of how an ejection would go. Then the President's promise came through.

"This is aerial refueling craft Garden Hose to approaching flight. We have orders to resupply you." The strangest thing about the voice though was how... Familiar it was. "So, a new aggressor squadron for Heierlark, huh? Those black bodies sure will scare those trainees. Why do you guys have battle damage? That doesn't make much sense..." I wanted to respond, at least acknowledge we heard the guy, but the president had told us to maintain radio silence. "I guess they were serious about the 'radio silence' thing," the guy said, more to himself than anyone else. "Okay, plane number-" the man suddenly cut himself off. "Wow. I used to know a pilot with the number zero one six. He was something else..." the man began as he reminisced. "But... I don't know... I still can't-"

"Second Lieutenant Brigham, just refuel these guys. That one leaking should go first."

"Jeez Nathan," another guy said, jumping on the bandwagon. "The way to talk sometimes..."

"Yeah yeah," the man said. "Okay, zero one six come in and refuel, I'll-" but I was already in position by then. "Man, that was just like how he used to do it," the man said. I myself was starting to guess at the identity of this man. Nathan Brigham... Nathan Brigham... There was something about that name that was very familiar, not to mention the hauntingly familiar voice.

"You know," Brigham said as I finished my refueling and Kei taking my place. "I used to not speak unless absolutely necessary."

"Why'd you stop? I'm sure everyone liked you back then," one of the other aircrew members of the tanker said.

"Yeah, well, I never got to get to know the people I worked with enough. Maybe if I had talked to them more, I could've... Changed things." No... It couldn't be... Could it? The rest of the refueling went on without much more chatter, the man who had initiated conversation being adequately subdued by his fellow crewmen and the apparently depressing subject he had brought up himself. Once we were out of radio contact, Grimm was the first to speak up.

"Was that... Thunderhead?" he asked carefully.

"I thought so, but wasn't Thunderhead a Colonel?" I asked, remembering the time he had stood up for us in the Jilachi desert.

"I thought so, but the way he sounded, and that story... do you think they demoted him?" Kei asked.

"It's possible," Marcus said, adding in his opinion and knowledge. "With him being so close to you guys, they probably made him obscure to discredit any doubts he had about you all being traitors."

"We'll just have to ask the president when we get back," I told them all as we continued on our way to the carrier.

Landing on the carrier was starting to become easier, but it still was my least favorite part of the flight. As soon as I had completed the task, a medical team came to remove Petra from her seat and bring her below deck to do a full medical examination, her body still passed out. I was also given a brief check-up to make sure that my high G maneuver didn't cause any damage to me. Once I was cleared, Kei gave me another run over, not satisfied with my condition until she confirmed it herself. When we returned to our room we settled in for a nap, the typical drained feeling becoming almost unbearable after the mission.

"I hope Petra's alright," I said as I got situated on the bed on the floor. "Those pilots today," I began closing my eyes briefly to remember the terrors better. "They were some of the hardest opponents yet."

"And they shot down their own," Kei added morosely as she got into the bed beside me. "Caden," she began, in a new tone that was a mix of disappointment and worry. "I'm not exactly thrilled at what happened today, and I'm not just talking about how I feel about what the Belken's were doing. You went off on your own and almost died because of it. Like that time you went swimming in a lightning storm back on Sand Island." Kei stopped talking for a moment and then shifted her body to better look into my eyes. "What was that about, by the way? You're a smart guy so you should know that's dangerous."

Once Kei brought up the incident, I began to try and remember what I had been swimming in the storm for. It had been right after we returned from November City from doing Chopper's remembrance ceremony. At the thought of the event, two emotions tackled me with enough force to cause a physical change in my body. The still present sorrow of losing, for lack of a better word, brother, was enough to cause me to choke up and bring a well of tears to my eyes. It had been a while since I thought of the man who had brought humor and comic relief to our flight when it had needed it most. But the other emotion that came to me was at the opposite end of the spectrum and made my body tense up and ball my fists. Anger.

Anger at the man's death being manipulated into another point in the Vice-President's pro-war speech. Anger at... at... What was I so angry about?

"Caden?" Kei asked from my side, worry now the prevalent tone in her voice. She had felt my body stiffen with the anger, but also heard my labored breathing as I tried to control my emotions with Choppers passing.

"I'm..." I began trying to decide what I was. "I'm hurt." I finally got out. "Broken. There is so much pain that I still feel when I think about... Him," I told Kei, not being able to say his name on account of it being too painful. "But then there's this... This anger, no, rage I feel whenever I think back to the remembrance ceremony." Kei took my right hand and began to massage my fingers. Usually, this did the trick in getting my mind off most anything and onto her, but this time, the hidden cause to my anger was preventing such an event.

"Caden," Kei began sympathetically. "I think we're all still trying to... I guess deal with what happened to him. But to harbor all this anger? At least we told the nation what he really wanted, what he really stood for." Then it clicked.

"But they never heard," I replied, causing Kei's fingers to stop working their magic on mine.

"What?" she finally asked. "What do you mean?"

"The day I was swimming back in the storm, I had gone into a shop on one of the islands around Sand Island. I got to talking with the store owner and he said at the moment I began to tell about what Chopper would've wanted, how he didn't believe in this war, that any news station airing the event suddenly had technical difficulties. I was in such a rush to try and tell someone..."

"That's what you were yelling about..." Kei said distantly. I glanced over at her and saw her vacant eyes indicative of deep thought. "So no one back home knows that we don't want war? That many people fighting this pointless conflict think it should stop?" I began to feel Kei's hands tighten their grip and it wasn't as therapeutic as before.

"Kei?" I asked cautiously, trying to probe her without poking to hard.

"Caden, we need to get the word out," she said simply. "To someone who will listen and start something. To anyone."


	39. -Whitney Elsworth-

**Whitney Elsworth**

As I felt the rough handed smack strike me again, something broke. Not a bone or physical part of me, or at least, I didn't know if it was, but something broke and I began to lose hold of the grim reality around me.

"I warned you this would happen," Charles growled, his words just barely able to escape without a slur caused by his intoxication. "I told you he would lose something valuable." Despite my decreasing sense of awareness, the words Charles had just said with hatred and loathing spurred something in me. I was valuable to Caden? If Charles could see it, and I had seen glimpses of it, it must really be there. Even with things continuing to go wrong around me, I couldn't help but feel a little joy. Then Charles spoke again, draining such emotions away. "Leave it to the greedy Usean to go on ahead with it anyways. I'll give him this though. He couldn't possibly have known he'd be losing you." Just as my vision began to tunnel into nothingness, I caught a flash of motion. Even with my brief glance and dwindling mental capacity, I knew the figure. I had spent too much of my life around them to not know.

"Caden," I muttered out, using the last of my energy and allowing myself to drift into a long, deep sleep.

This kind of dreaming was different than other kinds. The visions were much fuller and didn't jump around nearly as much.

It was one of the camping trips we took with the Irving's. I looked forward to such outings for more than one occasion. I've always been an outdoors person, preferring a hike over lounging in the sun for a tan any day of the week, much to the annoyance of my little sister. But when we got together with the Irving's, I knew that Caden would be along.

Originally, it had been purely platonic. He was a guy who had enjoyed the real Whitney, not the 'cool-popular-otherclichédescriptions-Whitney'. He got my kind of humor, the smart kind that required you to be up to date with current events and know a thing or two about the world around you, the kind of jokes that the crowd who knew the 'cool-popular-otherclichédescriptions-Whitney' laughed at only because I had an un-manageable grin. He challenged me to think about the world in a way that had me leave behind a narrow minded view... and a few dozen 'friends'. And he was there for the aftermath.

This particular camping trip marked the definite end to my platonic thoughts. Caden and I were on a night hike, something that we had done many times before. We were on top of a mountain that was within the national forest area, our parent's camper's maybe a mile away. Stars are amazing when there isn't any light pollution and tonight's sky was amazingly clear. Despite being a very physically in shape person, I was starting to get winded at the higher elevation. Hearing my deepening breaths, Caden called out to me.

"Hey, you doing okay?"

"Yeah," I breathed out. "Just the altitude."

"Let's stop here then. We're far enough out for tonight, don't you think?"

"Sure," I said readily, knowing that if I made a display of faux determination, Caden wouldn't let me back down from it. We found an area to sit at and lay out on the moist ground, dew already starting to form on the mountain foliage.

"So I guess Chuck couldn't make it," Caden said after a while, not looking over at me and playing it nonchalant. Or maybe he really didn't care. A small part of me wished he would show some jealousy or something, but I knew that he was above that. So really, it was impossible to tell.

"Yeah, said he had made commitments. With friends." Let it be known, I'm not great at lying. I've always been a truthful person, sometimes to a fault. So when I lied to Caden about asking Charles to go camping, I knew there was a large chance of him seeing through my fib. Caden had proposed the idea about a week before the trip. He suggested that it would give me time to hang around my boyfriend who I hadn't been hanging around with in a while. He couldn't know it was intentional, Chuck didn't even know. And then there was the plain fact that I didn't want Chuck with me while we camped. Camping I associated with Caden. Chuck would just ruin things, he was more like my sister when it came to an outdoors preference. All my worrying turned out to be for naught though.

"That's too bad. You would think he'd change plans to hang out with you," Caden said off-handedly. He probably meant nothing by it, but I read into things. Whether he meant it to sound like it or not, I knew that if Caden was in Charles position, he would've made time. Maybe it was unfair that I wasn't even giving Chuck a chance to prove himself, but I knew him like a well read book and was sure my prediction of his actions would've been spot on.

"Yeah," I said after a pregnant pause. Suddenly, there was a streak in the sky.

"Did you see it?!" Caden asked, pointing where the meteor had fallen, its trail already gone.

"Yeah," I replied, much more enthusiastically than last time. "Do you think it was part of the Ulysses?"

"Probably. There's supposed to be a mass submersion event soon," Caden remarked. I had read about it as well, a large collection of asteroid fragments would soon destabilize into the atmosphere, promising a grand meteor shower. Supposedly, it was even supposed to be visible and last into the day.

"I heard," I surmised for him. The moisture was starting to get to my back and chill me but I didn't want to leave yet. Caden started moving around to the right of me. "What are you doing?"

"You're cold," He stated simply, as if he were telling me that gravity pulled things down. "And, you're too stubborn to say anything about it, or let me suggest an early departure. So here." He handed me a jacket he had been wearing. When we had started off, I had wondered why he had worn two full coats. Now I knew and couldn't believe how well he knew me. I silently took the coat and snuggled into it, secretly enjoying the warmth and smell of Caden the jacket possessed. We sat in amicable silence for another ten minutes, spotting another couple meteors passing through the atmosphere. I decided to send my own projectile through the evening in the form of a sudden question. I started with his name.

"Caden?"

"What's up?"

"Do you...?" I suddenly felt myself losing will power.

"Do I...?"

"Never mind."

"Don't do that," Caden said giving me a light slap on the arm. "You know that drives me nuts."

"Fine," I replied. Now I could just blame any awkwardness on him. "But it's your-"

"I know, any resulting... anything, will fall on my shoulders. Now ask your question." Taking a deep breath so I could get it out in one go, I released and began talking.

"Doyoueverthinkaboutlove?" There. It's out there and can shrivel up and die. Slowly. Wow, he's taking a long time. "Caden?"

"Yeah, still here," He responded finally. "Sometimes," he admitted lamely.

"And?" I asked, desperately trying to keep my interest benign.

"You want my thoughts on love?" he asked.

"That's what I asked," I told him, slightly annoyed.

"No, it's not. You asked if I ever thought about love. I gave an acceptable answer." I could tell he was trying to steer the conversation into safe territory, an argument. I decided to course correct.

"What are your thoughts on love?" Now he was quiet again, clearly not having anticipated my new tactic.

"It's like this," he finally began, bringing relief to me that he would decide to share some thoughts, whatever they may be. "I've grown up around love, I've heard about it, know some of its forms, but I'm guessing you're talking about a specific kind of love, the kind between two people who aren't related. By blood. Or... hm... How does incest work?

"Caden!"

"Right, sorry, tangential thought. Anyways, that kind of love, I've got no experience in. I probably wouldn't know it if it came and smacked me in the face. Of course, this is love we're talking about, so it may as well kiss me in the face...

"Caden, quit being anthropomorphic and get down to it."

"Right, damn tangents. So, to answer your question. I guess I'm too inexperienced to have any kind of thoughts about love. I guess... I guess it's one of those things you just know when it happens. My mom's told me, and my father's backed it up, that sometimes it takes years for people to know, and with other people, it's instant. My parent's, it was a slow thing."

"Mine got married after a month," I responded.

"See? There you go. I guess I'm waiting to know. Till then, I don't really dwell on it. When I do, I kind of get sad I've got no one."

"You've got me," I replied before I could stop myself.

"I know, I know, I've got you and my parents and everyone else, but you know what I mean. I don't have what you and Chuck have," Caden said, thankfully missing my slip up. But when he finished, I felt sad myself. I knew I wasn't in love with Charles, I knew perfectly well what Caden had meant by saying he felt like he had no one. I wanted to say something, to tell him that Charles and I weren't as great as he apparently thought we were. But I didn't. We just sat there for another hour, watching the stars in silence. And I enjoyed that.

What I didn't enjoy was the strange sensations I kept having throughout my dreams. Sometimes, it would feel like I was being prodded but someone had injected me with a numbing agent. Or like I was submerged in gelatin and someone was pushing on that, not on me necessarily. Then there were muted conversations where I could make out scarce words, but hardly ever sentences. A recent one sided conversation really stuck with me though.

"So you were first... I don't know whether to be jealous or grateful of you. I mean, he did love you, but you also opened him up to love. I don't want to even think about how long it would've taken us if you hadn't. Thank you."

The voice was strange and unfamiliar. The subject even more so. If my time in this abstract, elongated dream made me realize anything, it's that I love Caden Irving. Why was the voice using past tense words?

Finally, I began to feel that familiar pull. I was a little disappointed that it had begun with a boring newscast.

"... Officials have stated that the attack wasn't carried out by any squadron in the Osean military. The Yuktobania's are still insistent, however, that it was aircraft from the Osean Federation that infiltrated Payavlenie Ravine earlier today. Vice-President Appelrouth has since been heard saying that the Yuktobania's are now trying to find an excuse to gather more support against the Osean occupation of Yuktobania, an idea he says is outrageous...

I couldn't bear to hear anymore and just tuned out the droning man as I tried to examine the room I was in with my eyes. At first, I thought it was a hotel room, my bleary vision not being of much use until I blinked a couple of times. Then the distinct smell of sanitation hit me and made the room unmistakable in its origin. A hospital. Well, I had just been beaten upon by a large, drunken, stupid-

"Thank God," a soft voice whispered as I was looking out the window that showed it to be some time during the day. I turned to the source of the strained voice to see a maternal looking nurse with one hand over her heart and another over her mouth, a light misting in her eyes. I gave a raised eye brown in my best attempt at a confused scowl. I tried to lift the sheets off of me to get up, but two things kept me from doing that. The first was the nurse who now ran towards me to keep me in the bed. The other was my own... weakness. It was strange, I tried to lift up the thick sheets with just the amount of force required, but very little movement occurred. I put more into it, but it felt like I was quickly running out of steam.

"What's wrong with me?" I rasped, my voice sounding like it hadn't been used in ages. My eyes widened at the sound and I looked even more demandingly at the Nurse.

"Hush, now. You need some rest." It felt like I had just woken up from an entirely too long of a rest.

"NO!" I rasped out, still scared by my own voice. "What happened? Where am I? Where's Charles? And Caden? Is he okay?" The nurse got a hurt look in her eye, but I was sure it wasn't because of me. Was Caden-

"Caden's..." She glanced around a little. "I'm going to get your sister. She'll be able to explain things. I think she'd want to be the one who... well... I'll be back. Just try and rest. You're body is going to be extremely weak for a while." Without much more, the nurse left me to brood over why I wasn't being told about Caden. Had Charles hurt him? Charles... the pig... I tried to focus on anything to get my mind off the anger inducing thoughts.

**:|:|:|:**

"HQ to Special Forces report your status." Enemy chatter was a lot more frequent on this mission than it seemed to ever be before. Part of me was amused. Part of me was still busy trying to fly low inside a stupid canyon that had way too many helicopters and boats patrolling. Kei and I were together in a hunting pair while Grimm and Marcus were in another pair. I would take out aerial threats while Kei would mop up any ground targets. Admittedly, I was starting to get sick of guarding these bomb dismantlers. Did we need to hear your every muse? As another helicopter fell out of the sky from some of my cannon rounds, the enemy resumed its chatter.

"Good, we're pushing them towards the tunnel's end. We'll catch them soon."

"This space is narrow. We can only squeeze one man through at a time."

"Give me a gun and a flashlight. I'll go in first."

"I got a bad feeling about this. Be careful, all right?" That was when the people we were protecting spoke up again with another mistimed blurb.

"Man, we gotta' be nuts to be taking apart a nuclear bomb in a place like this!" If I wasn't so focused on flying a plane through a trough in the earth, I would've thrown my hands to my head and screamed. As it was, Petra just spoke soothingly to me.

"Relax, Caden. When we get back, you'll be rewarded for your patience, I'm sure." Blushing furiously, I shouted back to her, glad that I at least remembered to put on the private channel.

"Keep your mind out of the gutter, Petra."

"I was talking about a nice meal," she said with fake innocence.

"Right," I muttered as I focused on the next helicopter ahead of me that was doing a pathetic job of trying to shoot me down.

"How much longer until you dismantle that nuke?" Grimm asked, an edge of impatience in his voice that was new, but not unique amongst us all.

"Hold on! We need to be really careful here." Suddenly the ground team that had been searching for the resistance members spoke up again.

"Those are bullets for a hunter's rifle! That's against international law!" the ground troop said with almost comical conviction.

"This is HQ. Are you saying you've been following the trail of a few renegade hunters?!"

"Pull that thing out slowly," the spokesman for the resistance said over the radio. "Okay, it's out. Pour the concrete inside there."

"Shit," Petra said suddenly. I was about to ask what the problem was when I heard it.

"This is Ofnir two. You're sure it's them?"

"This is Ofnir one. I said, that's what I heard," the man said, clearly annoyed that he was being questioned. 'The ghosts of the "Demons of Razgriz'."

"You're kidding me," another member of the flight asked. "They all sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Didn't the guys from Grabacr tell you that?"

"We'll find out if they're ghosts or not... when we take them on in combat," the last member finished, arrogance in his voice that drove me even crazier than the annoying resistance members.

"Enemy aircraft, the guys from the surveillance photo," Larry announced for us he and Grimm being the ones to see the planes first.

"Be careful. Remember what Pops said... these guys are Belken aces." That was enough to sober everyone up.

"Ofnir fighters... So they're the Yuke aggressors?!" It felt a little strange for Grimm to use a derogatory expression for the people of Yuktobania, but now was not the time to be examining nuances.

"Yeah, they're the ones," I replied. "Just like Grabacr is for Osea."

"Dammit, of all the places..." Grimm began, sounding more than a little outmatched. "I feel like they're hunting us like animals."

"That sounds about right," Marcus commented. Kei and I were still trying to intercept the elusive planes that we got flashes of on radar. The canyon was severely limiting our sight and equipment.

"Ofnir Squadron, flying through this ravine is extremely dangerous," one of the Yuktobania helicopters informed the imposture squadron.

"Ofnir one to all planes. No obstacles to our flight observed."

"Hey! Didn't you hear me?! Turn back!" the helicopter pilot insisted. Then, a sickening static filled the air before the lead plane asked a question clearly aimed at me.

"You're the Demons of Razgriz?"

"Yes," I replied coolly, no emotion other than confidence coming over the channel. The next transmission from the enemy pilot was just a twinge less cocky than his previous.

"Then we're going to turn this place into a demon's graveyard." Just a twinge.

"Sorry guys," Marcus began, making me think he was talking to the rest of his flight. "Our captain's really good." That brought a smile to my face.

"Black fighter jets..." one of the helicopter pilot's said as Kei and I flew past him on our way to intercept one group of two of the aggressor planes. "Man, that's just creepy." I couldn't hide my smirk. I'd have to find the guy who did these paint jobs and compliment him.

"It's like I'm watching an air show," another pilot commented from somewhere else. He was quickly reprimanded though.

"Quite gawking at them and focus on you mission." Then Kei and I finally caught sight of our targets. Su-37's, one of the most maneuverable planes in the Yuktobanian arsenal. This would be no walk in the park.

"Hey Vicya, can you believe these guys?"

"I wouldn't want to follow them through those maneuvers." Unfortunately, Kei and I had no choice.

"Get around behind them," one of the pilots we were now coming into range with said. "I'm going after the enemy lead plane, I'll let you deal with that one." It felt like a jousting contest from way back when as Kei and I continued to approach the two Terminators. At the last moment, gunfire filled the sky between us as all four of our planes broke off in different directions. I decided to pull a full air brake slowdown to flip direction of my plane to begin a pursuit.

"Caden!" Petra yelled as the plane shuddered with the forces being applied on it. "Didn't you hear what pops said? This planes going to rattle apart before we even get back to the carrier." I mentally slapped myself at forgetting the older man's words. After the stunt I pulled over Belka, the F-14 had a much weakened frame. Pop's warned that any more undue stress could cause something to fail. Catastrophically. Pop's was saying he was looking for a replacement plane, but it might be a while and that I needed to treat this plane with some care if I was going to survive. I tried to keep that piece of advice in the front of my head as I began to pursue the two Terminators, Kei falling in behind me in mere moments.

"What?!" the two pilots we were now following asked, both clearly surprised to see us on their tails.

"They're fricken' Tomcat's!" another member of the flight exclaimed. Apparently Marcus and Grimm were holding their own as well. Kei and I began to follow as closely as we could, the canyons at times necessitating a deviation from the most appropriate course.

"Look, the enemy's running down Ofnir!" a helicopter pilot exclaimed, fear and wonder mixing in his transmission.

"This isn't like those guys. What's keeping them?"

"So, there really is someone out there that can give Ofnir a hard time, eh?" Suddenly I got a solid lock.

"FOX TWO!" I shouted excitedly as a sidewinder flew off my rail. I didn't know whether it was just surprise or something else, but the plane that I had targeted seemed to freeze up before the missile struck its target. The silence that followed was welcome, but unnerving at the same time.

"There's only one squadron I know that could shoot down Ofnir..." a helicopter pilot suddenly said, breaking the stillness.

"I was just thinking the same thing," a fellow enemy said. "Razgriz..." The reverent tone the pilot said the name in gave even me the chills. It didn't take long for the remaining enemy forces to bug out until it was just the three remaining Ofnir planes. With their leader gone, they seemed to be panicked, and a panicked opponent is an easy opponent.

"All Ofnir fighters shot down. Looks like the other enemy forces bugged out on us, too," Kei said with a sigh of relief.

"Okay, we've dismantled the bomb. Did you fend off the enemy forces for us?" the resistance leader asked. Was he deaf or something?

"For now..." Kei said, more than a little confusion evident in her voice.

"We're going into the ocean to discard the bomb piece by piece. Nobody will ever be able to use it as a weapon again. If you can, please protect us until we make it into the ocean."

"We will... But... what about..." Kei asked, confusion still evident in her voice.

"Don't be surprised, but our ship... it's a submarine." Don't be surprised, but we've got a what? "There's nothing we can't get our hands on. I told you, we've got a lot of allies."

"All right," Kei said, more than a little surprise coming through her tone. "But who told you that we'd definitely be coming for you?"

"I don't know his name..." the resistance fighter said. I peered out my canopy to see the long, steel hull of a submarine starting to come out from a shelter near the center of our operations area. "But he left a message for your Captain. I'll read it. It says, 'Hey Kid, I hear you're a helluva Squad Captain now...'" There were only two people who ever really called me Kid. One of them we had seen die right in front of us. The other... "Do you get it?"

"Yes!" Nagase said with more excitement than I thought she could have. "Perfectly!"

**:|:|:|:**

"Whitney!" Kim said as she burst into the door like an uncontrollable tsunami.

"Kim?" I asked, unsure if the woman who was now hugging me was actually my sister. I had been told how long I was... asleep. That was a shock that took me the entire wait for my sister to get over. But a few months was not long enough to age Kim as much as seemed to. She seemed so... Tired. I could see what looked like permanent dark circles under her eyes, a few gray wisps in her unkempt hair and wrinkles that hadn't been there before. Instead of looking like my younger sister, she seemed like a tired mom who had raised six sons entering her forties. I decided to keep that opinion to myself though.

"You have no idea what it means to see you," Kim cried into my shoulder still not letting go after a full on minute of hugging. For me, it had only been a couple of days since I last spoke with my sister. But for her... for everyone... "How long does she have to stay here?" my sister asked the nurse who had tears in her eyes.

"Um..." the nurse began, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her uniform, clearing her throat in a futile attempt to make herself sound more dignified. "A couple of days. We need to make sure there wasn't any damage to her nervous system. Then we'll need to start physical therapy. She lost a lot of muscle mass." I began to tune out the conversation. As far as my knowledge went, I was alive. But someone who I cared about possibly wasn't.

"Caden?" I rasped out to my sister who spun back towards me at the sound of my voice.

"What?"

"Caden." I repeated. Her expression told me what I already feared and dreaded. But I wanted to know... I needed to know everything.

"Maybe you should just rest. You've already been through a lot today-"

"Kim," I stated firmly, the most full body word I had said all day. Looking for help, my sister turned to the nurse. The other woman just gave a defeated sigh.

"She'll learn it soon enough. Let her hear it from you," the nurse said as she began to leave the room. The next hour wreaked havoc on my body and mind. I decided the only way I'd be able to move on was closure. I got my phone back and was thankful to see some numbers in it that would be able to help me out. Some of Caden's cadet friend were able to pull some strings and get me the mailing address of a Captain Marcus Snow, the man who shot down Caden Irving and the rest of the 'traitors' from Sand Island. I may not have known who Caden flew with, but there was one thing I did know about the man. He was no traitor. I decided to give this Marcus a piece of my mind.


	40. -Killing the White Bird-

**Killing the White Bird**

With another three day's wait before we were called in for our next mission, it was starting to feel like things were winding down. Part of me was excited, but another part was apprehensive. The president had been a constant presence, reminding me that I had to soon give him an answer. But it would have to wait one more day, at least. Pop's was hurrying us into the briefing room with occasional worried glances directed at Kei and that had me worried.

"The intelligence vessel Andromeda has picked up another encrypted transmission in Belken. We're not positive, but we're pretty sure this isn't from Bartlett." At the name, Kei had a faint smile. Since learning that our former captain wasn't dead, she seemed to have a burden lifted from her and made it that much pleasurable to be around her, not that I was complaining before. "The Belken's have changed the code," Pop's continued, "so it took a little longer to decipher the message. The content is as follows: 'N attack by ASat on Okchabursk to commence at 1400 hours'." ASat... ASat... where had I heard that designation before?

"The Arkbird..." Kei whispered, her previous smile vanished from the room. Pop's nodded gravelly.

"Apparently, efforts to secretly repair the sabotaged Arkbird are now complete. We confirmed this by observing its orbit from the ground. We believe that a Belken nuke has already been loaded onto the Arkbird. In order for the Arkbird to attack the city of Okchabursk in Yuktobania at 1400 hours, it must make one major correction to its orbital projection. To do this, it must first drop into the upper atmosphere and use air friction to lower its speed. We have already calculated the time and location in which this maneuver will occur." Pop's looked around the room to have another validated excuse to glance at Kei. The small twinge of hurt in both their eyes didn't do anything to lighten the tension in the room.

"Your mission is to destroy the Arkbird," Pop's said, lowering his head as if he were an emperor admitting defeat in the face of a far superior enemy, the sense of loss palpable in the thick atmosphere of the room. He gathered himself, knowing that this defeat was necessary in the long run and may eventually prove to be a blessing. "You will only have one chance to stop it. Destroy it before it withdraws from the battle zone." There was a sense of finality that came over me and I began to rise, but a throat clearing form Pop's put a stop to that.

"Now, I know you're all probably getting used to the Tomcat's, but your constant sorties are starting to wear on them, some of your frames showing more wear than the others," Pop's finished with an intense glare at me. I cleared my throat in nervousness as he continued on. "In addition to the fact that a massive maintenance needs to be carried out on the F-14's to deem if their use is still feasible, you'll need to use some specialized missiles to get the Arkbird to descend to lower altitude where your plane's engines will actually work."

"Oh..." Larry said, the excitement he was giving off in his simple exclamation so uncharacteristic that we all turned to look at him in confusion. "The ASM-135..." he said reverently. I arched an eyebrow and looked back at Pop's who, despite his differences with the pilot, had a thin smile.

"Go on and give them the details, Larry," Pop's said, not attempting to hide the slight amusement in his voice.

"Well, if I'm guessing right, we'll need to fly some Eagles." I glanced back at Pop's momentarily to see him nodding his confirmation. "The ASM-135 is carried centerline on the bottom of the aircraft, as it's about as long as the wing-root. We'll have to get to an altitude of at least 38,000 feet, at a speed of Mach 1.22, or higher, at a 65 degree angle."

"That's some pretty good memorization," Pop's commented off-handedly. Larry seemed to suddenly become self conscious.

"Experience is a great teacher," Larry muttered. What satellites had he been attacking? And when?

"Larry's right, you'll be flying F-15E's for this mission. Snow, you'll get the C variant. Hopefully, you are all still flexible enough pilots to get used to the switch up. You'll be flown by helicopter to a small airfield we've..." Pop's seemed to falter for a moment. "... Borrowed. You'll take off and land there. Good luck people. Lives have always depended on you, but this mission's outcome will determine the fate of countless innocents. Godspeed."

We all began to file out of the briefing room, but Larry was holding back. Kei was just about to leave the room with me, but halted when Larry called out to her.

"Captain Nagase?" he asked respectfully, not using any more familiar terms in getting her attention. Kei first looked at me, and while I had an inkling of an idea of what was going on, I shrugged, hoping that she would investigate what Larry wanted to talk to her about herself. She thankfully did just that and walked towards the man who had remained in the room. I left the two to talk in private and followed the rest of the squadron towards a waiting helicopter that was beginning to get ready for flight on the deck of the aircraft carrier.

It was very chilly outside now, with all of us donning heavy coats over our flight suits to ward off some of the extreme weather. The sky had only a few wispy clouds that seemed frozen in the golden glow of the morning, while the mountainous outcroppings near the channel had fresh powder topping them off, giving the illusion that we were further north than we really were... although, we were pretty far up north...

I was pulled from my thoughts as Kei finally made her reappearance with Larry in tow. There wasn't much discernible emotion on either of their faces so I had no idea how their talk had gone. I would have to ask later as the helicopter finally got started up, the engines making too much noise to talk to each other without headsets. As the seven of us boarded the helicopter, I couldn't help but reflect on what we were about to do.

The Arkbird had been a symbol of peace before this conflict. A scientific tool, as well as a type of clean up instrument, removing swaths of Ulysses fragments one orbit at a time, destabilizing their orbits by instantly vaporizing a side of a fragment with one of its many multi-directional... Lasers.

"Shit," I muttered. Of course, no one heard me, but Kei, who was close enough to see my mouth move, decided to see what I was saying.

"What was that?" she asked over the radio, letting everyone else know that I had said something.

"The Arkbird... It has lasers for vaporizing parts of asteroid fragments. Today, they may be vaporizing parts of planes," I said out loud, bringing the same morbid realization to everyone who was listening. Then Pop's decided to speak up.

"We figured that something like that could happen," he said, no trace of great concern in his voice which in turn, concerned me. "We had the F-15's you'll be using today outfitted with an experimental type of ablative armor. It's the same stuff that was used on the multiple re-entry vehicles back in the ninety's. It'll allow you to take a couple of hits, but don't fly like you're invincible. Sustained fire or multiple hits in one area can still damage your plane." I was relieved to hear this information and by the relaxing postures of the rest of the squadron, they were also put at ease.

The airbase that Pop's said we'd requisitioned was about the size of Sand Island, just surrounded by peaks of snowy mountains instead of blue, tropical water. It reminded me of Heierlark, and if the slight squeeze of my hand from Kei meant anything, she probably thought so too. We wasted no time running to the plane hangars, both because we were on a tight time schedule that involved the lives of close to half a million people, and because it was really cold outside. Petra and I quickly got into our hangar and stopped for a split second to look at the F-15E. It, like the F-14 we had flown before, was painted slate black with dark red accents. It looked slightly different from the F-15 I flew before. Maybe more angular in certain places and bulkier in others. I realized this was probably due to the armor that Pop's was talking about.

"Ready?" Petra asked as she jumped into the back seat of the plane I nodded, following her example but not before taking a good look at the giant missile strapped to the bottom of the plane. It was outrageously large, but then, it kind of had to be. Larry had said on the way over here that the missile used kinetic energy alone, with no actual warhead on the missile. I wondered how effective our combined barrage would be at bringing the Arkbird down to a lower altitude. I jumped into the seat of my plane, pulling off my jacket and putting on my helmet before starting up the engines. The doors to the hangar were quickly opened and I taxied out onto the runway to join the rest of my squadron. Once we all took off, we made our way to the spot where we would attack the sub-orbital Arkbird.

**:|:|:|:**

It is foolish to write to someone about something you know little about or only have strong emotions over. You end up sounding like a second grader. So before I sent off the letter, I researched. But I wasn't finding the real stuff. It was all too clean. It wasn't close to anything like the Caden I knew. Sure, half a year is a long time, but Caden wasn't someone who was subject to rapid changes. So I began to look at unofficial sources.

I found some pictures that some random solider had uploaded that had Caden in them, pictures that would be discredited in the blink of an eye because the photographer hadn't been wearing a press badge, but were real all the same. They inadvertently brought a warm smile to my face, but it would never last long. While I held out hope that he was still alive, every click on a page with a statement contrary to my hope slowly chipped away at my resolve. Then I found a chat room.

Let it be known, I'm not one to base my beliefs on any wily-nilly internet chat room. Especially internet chat rooms. Especially. But, as I began to dissect the dialogues and archives, stories began to line up with confirmed events. There were members from both sides, even people from other nations who weren't even involved. It was strange to see a mutual respect between the supposed enemies's. In fact, there was little hatred and bigotry at all between the two sides in this particular chat room, the most flamboyant displays coming from anonymous users or the occasional Belken user, though most of those were in Belken and after translating the first five, I decided they weren't worth the effort. Amongst all this strange and conflicting data, I kept seeing recurring references that reminded me of a particular man who I held close to my heart. The Razgriz.

According to the dates, Yuktobanian members were the first to start using the word in reference to an Osean squadron that had sunk not only one, but two super aircraft carrier submarines, one having its watery grave in the Razgriz Straits east of the Anea continent. As I continued to read the terrified yet awed accounts given, more Osean users began to speak about a squadron on their side that was becoming more than just a group of war planes. The Sand Island squadron. The same squadron I had seen Caden in with the unofficial picture I had found. And Saved. To every electronic device in my possession.

Then a raid out in the Jilachi desert confirmed what I was already starting to know. The planes the Yuktobanian's had been calling the Razgriz were the Sand Island squadron detachment. With this revelation, the most recent chats were giving me much more hope. There was Razgriz activity as recent as the 16th... The newscast! The newscast I had woken up to, that had been him! I couldn't believe it, I had figured out something that the government didn't. Or... Did they...? It had been the military that had called them traitors and had them shot down... in trainer jet's none the less. They could've just forced them to land... something was smelling, and it wasn't the bed pan. Ugh. I needed to get out of here.

Since I was still bed written, I couldn't do much, so I began to write my letter to this Captain Snow. As hard as I tried, I couldn't keep my calligraphy from turning into an angry scrawl. Oh well, he would just have to deal with it. It sent home the point anyways.

_Mr. Snow,_

_It has come to my attention that you were the pilot who shot down the supposed traitors of Wardog Squadron. I may not know you, and frankly, I don't think I ever want to know more about you than this mailing address which is hopefully still valid. But I did know Caden Irving, I knew him better than anyone else in the world, including myself. You sir, made a huge mistake on December seventh, because on that day, you killed our countries only chance at ending what is starting to look more and more like an orchestrated war. You also killed someone who I've discovered has captured my heart. In short, you've scorned a woman. But I've come across some evidence that may scare you more than that. You botched your job. Those lives you took, they've come back with a vengeance and rumor is, they aren't taking sides in this silly war. You've awoken the Razgriz. So, just so we're clear, you've got them and me to contend with. I won't tell you which you should be more afraid of._

_Good day to you,_

_Whitney Elsworth_

I reread the letter over and over, trying to decide if it was scathing enough. I finally just wanted to send it so I had the nurse come in and put the letter in the mail for me. I paid the extra money to make sure it got to its destination as quickly as possible.

**:|:|:|:**

"We're so close..." Grimm began suddenly, breaking the silence we had been in for the last hour. "I feel like the Belken's are always one step ahead. Don't you, Captain?" I sighed a little before answering the younger man.

"It would be foolish to say that I didn't feel at a disadvantage some of the time, but we can't lose our hope. We've made it this far, and someone's bound to learn what we know. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the world catches on. Then we won't be playing catch-up with the Belken's anymore."

"I never thought I'd see the Arkbird fall into Belka's hands," Kei remarked. She had been sounding distant the whole trip to the rendezvous point.

"I can see it," Larry said suddenly. I glanced up and sure enough, there it was. A lone, white speck up in the sky, a faint glow around it. Weather it was from the heat coming from its aero-breaking or the sun glinting off its highly maintained surfaces, its dazzling effect was still the same. Part of me was captured with wonder, everyone has heard of the Arkbird. It's a staple of society like the Eiffel tower in Fato. Not many people would dream of getting to see it this close though, and if this mission went according to plan, we would be getting even closer.

"Okay Razgriz," I began, addressing the flight, trying to get my thoughts off the craft we would soon be shooting down. "Change pitch to sixty five degrees above the horizon and begin accelerating. We need to be traveling at target speed by thirty eight thousand feet. Release your payload as soon as possible. Our window is narrow, so make it count."

"Roger," everyone replied. I began to pitch my nose to the required position and punched the throttle, my body slamming into my seat as the Eagle began accelerating to the vulnerable Arkbird.

"Thirty thousand," Petra began reading off. "Thirty five... Mark!" I slammed my thumb down on the launch button and felt the plane shudder for a moment before a thick pillar of exhaust shot from under me and straight into the sky, quickly turning into a pinprick of light leading a trail of smoke. A split second later, it was accompanied by three more similar projectiles. I watched the trails of white tracked towards the Arkbird. Then there were four closely timed explosions, one right after the other, along the bottom of the large space craft. For a few moments, it seemed like nothing was going to happen. Then...

"It just jettisoned something," Kei observed, a lone streak coming from the space plane.

"It's an escape capsule," Marcus said knowingly. We then heard our first transmission from the craft.

"Adler to Schenze. He got away in an attack!"

"The Osean astronaut? And what attack?!" another voice asked. It sounded oddly familiar, like one of the Belken pilots we had shot down on our way back from Cruik Fortress.

"Yeah. And it's alright, we don't need him anymore and we're outside their reach... Oh, Dammit!" the voice exclaimed in surprised frustration. "He must've done something to the control system before he got away! Turn off that switch! Damn, we're slowing down too much! We're going to dive deep into the atmosphere! Where and who did those shots come from?! "

"Sounds like we got some help," Sylvia said. The Arkbird was indeed descending much faster than what we had previously estimated.

"What?! The Osean Army's supposed to be wrapped around our finger! Who the hell-"

"Black bodies, that emblem..." Adler interrupted, fear leaking into his voice that made a smirk grow on my face.

"It's them! The 'Ghost of Razgriz'! The survivors from the Ofnir Squadron told me about them!" another voice exclaimed.

"They're the ones who shot down Ofnir?!" another member of the hijacked Arkbird asked with fear.

"Launch the Vogel's!" Adler said, his voice rising above the two crew members. "Get rid of them!"

"Multiple unmanned fighters!" Petra told be as black specs began dispersing from the large craft that was still sinking into the atmosphere.

"That launch port wasn't in the original design!" Kei said with disbelief.

"The Belken's modified it?!" Grimm asked in a similar state. By then, the small, nimble drones were upon us. Taking full advantage of their small size and lack of a pilot, they began to pull insane maneuvers, seeming to change direction in an instant.

"These unmanned craft have inhuman maneuverability!" Snow exclaimed as he tried chasing down one of the small craft.

"The Arkbird is now at an altitude where we can attack it," Sylvia told us from over the radio.

"What do we shoot at?" I asked to anyone who could give an answer.

"I don't know... anything that looks expensive?" Petra said back to me.

"The whole thing looks expensive!" I replied.

"Then shoot at everything!" she retorted. I decided to shoot at what looked like the holes the drones had come out of. I lined up my cannon and diligently took my passes at the port, my efforts paying off as huge portions of the ship began to fall away to the fire from my gun. Clearly, this ship hadn't been designed with combat in mind. Before I could proceed to the next port though, I got a caution from my HUD telling me that two of the unmanned craft were locking onto my six. I broke off my engagement and began to try and deal with the small drones.

"Schenze to Adler," the voice began, only a shadow of fear present in its steely resolve of a tone. "Do whatever it takes to gain altitude!"

"Copy," the man who had taken control of the Arkbird said. "Counting down to ignition of boosters!"

"I know all about the Arkbird," Kei began as I began to take evasive maneuvers to counteract the drones on my six. "I was in love with it... I used to stare at the blueprints all the time." There was deep sadness in Kei's voice that was breaking my heart. If I wasn't so focused on the two enemies that were still on my six, I probably would've tried cheering her up or at least seeing if she was okay. But the sudden explosions signaling the termination of my two pursuers woke me up to the fact that Kei Nagase wasn't as delicate as she could sometimes seem to be. "That big engine in the middle is a booster designed to give the Arkbird enough speed to escape the atmosphere," She began, a new ferocity in her voice that was giving me both hope and pride in the woman I knew I loved. "If we destroy that, it'll never make it into space again."

"Copy that," Snow said concisely, knowing what had to be done.

"We're going to destroy the Arkbird..." Grimm said, making what we were about to do real to all of us. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, more to placate himself than as a real question. Kei answered regardless, maybe to strengthen her own resolve, maybe to strengthen the rest of us. Either way, it did the job.

"When we're at peace again, the President will build another one for us." That was when Adler decided to interrupt our small conference, the Vogel's no longer being able to do that job as they were all out of action and their launch ports destroyed.

"Five, four, three, two, one... Ignition!"

For a brief moment, there seemed to be absolutely no sound. Everything was deathly quiet for the shortest time, the only sign the world still existed was the sudden presence of an impossibly large blue jet of flame coming from the rear of the Arkbird. Then the sound came back with a vengeance. There was a temporary ringing immediately after the boom, but I was fairly certain that was all me.

"We need to take out that engine before they escape!" Sylvia said, the first to speak after the burst of sound.

"Thrust increasing!" Adler announced with a snide tone that couldn't be allowed to persist. I pushed the engines of the Eagle to the red zones to gain on the large bird with as much speed as possible. I knew that the thermal signature of the huge flame was too big for a missile to miss, but at the same time, it might be so large that it would destroy any projectile that passed through the flame. I rose to the very edge of the F-15's service ceiling and aimed right in front of the exhaust, hoping that one pass would be all that it would take.

"They're like flies trying to take on a dragon," Adler said, his cockiness getting to me more than it should. This man had hijacked an instrument of peace and science and was now using it as nothing more than an over sized ICBM. On second thought, maybe he was getting to me just the right amount. I dove at the Arkbird, my hand as steady as ever due to my resolve to end this engagement as soon as possible. The space plane was already moving so fast and acceding at such a speed that I was only able to get in a few dozen rounds before I had to break right. But those rounds did enough to give Adler pause for thought.

"I heard Ofnir was destroyed by these guys..."

"Don't worry," Schenze said, no trace of the worry that was starting to be heard in his companion's voice present in his own. "The Arkbird is invincible."

"That's what was said about those Yuke submarines. If the Razgriz should manage to shoot us down-"

"It's not going to happen, so there's no need to think about it," Schenze said forcefully, clearly not understanding the situation that Adler was in fully. I began to ascend again, this time in the company of the rest of my squadron.

"Make this pass count people, I don't think we'll get another one," I remarked before imitating a dive at the quickly accelerating craft. With the combined fire of four planes, whole sections began falling away from the top of the plane where we were firing, the engines cutting out with smaller explosions going off near the exhaust.

"Rocket boosters destroyed!" Kei said with triumph that I hadn't expected from her on this mission.

"Dammit, we're falling again!" Adler said with satisfying panic.

"Adler, you are aware of the backup plan, right?" What backup plan?

"I know," Adler said. They wouldn't be so stupid as to announce it over- "We'll head for nearby Osean territory and set off the nuke." Wow.

"Your sacrifice will never be forgotten," Schenze said, making it sound like what they were doing was some noble endeavor.

"Let's put the Razgriz in their place," Adler began, a new and worrisome resolve in his voice that hadn't been there seconds ago. "Knock them down so hard they won't even think of coming back to life again. We can overpower all of them, this is our chance to show up Ofnir. They may be ghosts, but I think this bird can still touch them."

"It's firing! It's the main laser!" Grimm exclaimed as a sudden blue flash of light streaked across the sky, narrowly missing Marcus' plane.

"That's the laser that destroyed the Scinfaxi!" Kei shouted in justified disbelief. The laser had supposedly been destroyed in the sabotage attack. Had they fixed that when they installed the UAV launchers?

"Now it's aimed at us!" Petra yelled. I pulled up above the Arkbird to avoid the main laser to be greeted by another surprise.

"That thing's packed with lasers!" Grimm yelled as the sky began to fill with bright pulses of light originating from the top of the Arkbird.

"They're secondary beams," Kei said, explaining their original purpose. "They were meant to take care of the smaller derbies that the main cannon would be too powerful for."

"Something tells me that they'll work just fine on us," Larry commented. I decided to go after one of the ports I could see glinting in the sun, but as I closed in, a missile lock alarm started blaring, swiftly followed by a white plume erupting from another port on the top side of the plane.

"MISSILES?!" I yelled out as I took evasive maneuvers to avoid the missile coming straight at me.

"For emergency defense against inbound debris," Kei exclaimed quickly, passing by me and strafing the top of the bird, causing a couple of explosions and a swath of paneling to come off the white craft. "Two light laser barrels destroyed," she commented as she started coming around for another pass.

"I think your girlfriend is showing you up," Petra said from behind me, trying to get a rise out of me. It worked. I dove down at the craft again, and just as I was about to release some bullets on the aircraft, it began to change direction, causing me to pull back up in order to avoid its lumbering frame.

"It's changing bearings! It's headed south now."

"What are they thinking?" Snow wondered.

"Where are they... They're heading for Osean territory!" Kei said, realizing that they were in fact going to try and carry out the backup plan Adler had revealed over the radio.

"If it penetrates Osean airspace and self-destructs with the nuke, it'll be a catastrophe!" Grimm said with immense worry.

"It's hard to fathom their desire to spread war this far..." Snow mused to himself before involving me. "Can you believe it Blaze?"

"This is Belka we're talking about, a country that, in their eyes, has lost too much to too many."

"The fruit of their deep-rooted hatred," Marcus concurred. "I suppose. But it's still hard to swallow."

"Never said it was easy," I replied as I began another line up on the two remaining cannons. Just before the last two of my bullets struck the remaining laser turret on the top side of the aircraft, it fired a pulse in a seeming random direction.

"Crap!" Grimm yelled out in surprise.

"G-bear?!" Sylvia suddenly cried out, casting a deafening silence over the airspace.

"Ah-em," Grimm finally said after an eternity, clearing his throat from a non-existent blockage. "I'm... I'm good." There was another beat of silence before Petra decided to address the pressing issue. Well, the pressing issue as it was in her mind.

"G-bear?"

"Now's not the time... Or place." Grimm said snappily, just making it harder for the smile that was creeping onto my face from stopping its advance, despite the circumstances.

"Grimm, is your plane alright?" Kei asked. It was probably unnoticeable to the rest of the squadron, but being that I knew Kei on a slightly more personal level, I could tell she found the nickname of the youngest squadron member amusing as well.

"We're still good," Larry answered for Grimm who must've been too embarrassed to say anything. "There's a noticeable scorch mark between the right wing and body, but other than a slight divot and burning, no actual damage."

"Seems like the ablative armor did its job," I remarked as I began to dive below the Arkbird again to see if I couldn't do something about the main laser. As I began to line up a shot, I noticed reflections and movement. My mind immediately translated this to danger and before the faint glowing of the main laser got any brighter, I dove out of the way before a searing bright blue beam shot where I had been only a second ago.

"Our cause will live on, to be taken up by others that follow," Adler said in a crazed tone, reminding me of the way cult leaders are portrayed in films. "We're going out in a Blaze of glory! We'll take the Razgriz down with us!"

"Funny," Larry said in a tone that told me he found the situation anything but humorous. "That sounded almost exactly the same as something a World without Borders follower would say as they're going down."

"We are the chosen ones," Adler continued, ignorant to what any of us were saying. "We have the power to overcome the Razgriz! Make them regret that they ever challenged us. Their legend ends here and now."

"Yup," Larry said, emphasizing the 'p' of his personal confirmation. "Definitely World without Borders-y."

"We alone have been given the power to complete this mission. We won't let anyone stop us. See this thing through to the very last moment! Our mission will soon be accomplished," Adler said, completing his monologue with flourish deserving of an academy award.

"May your great sacrifice be praised forever!" Schenze said, adding to the man's already inflated ego.

"This day will be a glorious one!" the man said, rabid with delusion. "The Arkbird will be an offering to celebrate this new beginning. Our victory is complete and undeniable."

"Man, this guy sound like a religious zealot!" Marcus remarked to which I completely agreed. I decided to take Adler's ego down a couple of levels and aimed for the laser before it could change firing directions again.

"Heavy laser barrel destroyed," I announced after a satisfying explosion ripped apart a large section of the underside of the plane, some of the paneling tearing away and then flying off as it got caught in the drag of the atmosphere it wasn't designed for.

"Impossible... Dammit! How can this be?!" Adler said, his previous eloquence forgotten as he used the explicative. "Carrying out the backup plan may be impossible under these conditions. Our altitude is still dropping, and controls are beginning to malfunction. Hurry, we can't go down yet!"

"What a pitiful sight," Marcus remarked as we all formed up a little ways from the smoldering plane that was still somehow holding itself together.

"Yes, and humans are responsible for it," Grimm said, finally breaking his temporary silence. "It's barely holding itself together. What a terrible sight."

"We're seeing this through to the end! Switch to auxiliary engines!" Adler said with urgency, the altitude of the plane now barely above a thousand feet. It seemed pointless, but I had to hand it to the man, he had tenacity, no matter how misplaced it was. The gigantic plane began to pitch upwards for its last ditch burn.

"The Arkbird's fired up its last engine!" Kei said, breaking her reprieve as well. She still had the same fiery determination in her voice as before, but there was a shadow of sadness as well. Another boom finally echoed through the air at the end of her statement as four purple plumes of flame that nearly touched the water the Arkbird was right above. The four of us held nothing back, our desire to rid the sky of the tarnished bird overcoming any lingering doubts about this mission. As the last engine flickered out, Adler had one last thing to say before the former spacecraft ripped itself apart by coming into contact with the water.

"... Damn you, Razgriz." Then, the tail section of the plane impacted the water, sapping the remainder of the speed out of the over sized plane and causing a rapid cascading crash into the water below, wreckage scattering all over the water. We watched in accepting, yet still stunned silence as pieces continued to land in the disturbed water, smoke billowing from patches of burning fuel and volatile chemicals.

"Let's go home," Kei said, her voice not having a hint of victory in it.


	41. -The Returned, Part One-

**The Returned; Part One**

Today I would be getting out. The nurse, Dora, I think her name was, had been coddling me like a small child, and, while it certainly made things easy, I was more than ready to start living on my own now. Well, maybe I would be open to living with someone else... but... that was getting ahead of myself.

As I signed papers for my release, I suddenly felt strange, like I didn't know what to do. Where would I go? Shubrick was miles upon miles away from November City and while Kim had invited me to live with her while I got back on my feet, I had no way of getting there at the moment. The nurse handed back my belongings which I had limited access to before. I was walking away from the counter to an elevator when my phone vibrated with a new text message. As I stepped onto the elevator, the interior of which was sterile metal and not at all inviting, I opened up the phone to see the new message.

_Seventh floor._

The doors of the elevator shut, and I was its only occupant. The sender of the message was an unknown number and I was beginning to feel slightly panicked. I wasn't about to trust some random person and go the seventh floor, even if I was in a hospital. I had seen too many horror movies with Caden to know that bad things happened when you trusted strangers without anyone with you. I began wishing I had someone with me at that moment. Someone pretty specific. I pressed the lobby button on the elevator and began the ride down. I anxiously watched as I approached the seventh floor, knowing that the elevator could be called to that floor by someone other than me. But as I continued on to the sixth floor uninterrupted, I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. When I stepped out of the elevator into the grand lobby of the hospital, my phone buzzed again.

_Yule and Madison. Trust me._

The number was the same as before. The added, 'trust me' did nothing to alleviate my worries and I quickly hustled out onto the busy street, hoping the throngs of people would protect me from any further creepy messages. I just began to follow the crowd outside, a weird sense of relaxation coming over me as I was once again amongst other living people. Even if it was the middle of December. Boy it was cold. I decided to try and get a coat. I would probably be in this city for a while, despite my increasing desire to leave it. I had found out that even though I had been in an expensive and specialized Coma ward, I still had money in my bank account. In fact, I was pretty sure there was more in there than my measly interest rate would've gotten me. I had my suspicions on who had been my benefactor, but Kim told me that this mystery person didn't want their identity known. Yet. She had said that qualifier with a small smile that all but confirmed who I thought it was.

As I entered a clothing store, I couldn't help but notice a woman near the back who had a dark black coat on. That's a normal sight, a woman with a coat in a woman's clothing store, where I myself planned on getting a coat. But the way she glanced at me every so often was... Unnerving. I quickly found a coat, not wanting to stick around any longer than I had to. Once I checked out, I practically ran out of the store and tried to meld with the people again, shrugging on my new tan coat. I kept glancing back over my shoulder, checking to see if the woman with the black coat was following me. Then I shook my head. I must have gotten paranoid in my coma. Sure the text message was a little creepy, but to start thinking that people were-

"Oh!" someone yelled as I bumped into them as I was glancing over my shoulder again.

"Sorry!" I said quickly, bending over to help the person I had just run into collect their things off the ground.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry," the man said, looking up at me with an odd expression. Suddenly, his gaze shifted behind me and he gave a slight nod. I whirled my head around to see black coat lady just as she stuck me with something that sent a faint prick of pain down my neck. I panicked as the all too familiar sensation of falling asleep struck me.

"Get her to the safe house before he comes," I head the woman say as my vision began fading. I could feel myself being hoisted up, held like a sleepy person and too my horror, I couldn't do much more than attempt to stand weakly. Not even my mouth would work as I struggled to keep my eyes from closing, sending me to the void.

"Do you really think he'd come out of hiding for her?" the man who was holding me asked. "He hasn't come out for almost a year now, why would he break it for her? He didn't even come out for his son."

"Stop standing around and follow orders," the woman said back snappily. Because of my close proximity to the man I was able to hear his next words that were lost to the other woman.

"Bitch," the man muttered as he carried my body over to what seemed like a waiting white van. At least, that was what I could make out before my eyes finally lost their battle in trying to remain open.

**:|:|:|:**

The first day back, Kei had been inconsolable. She just went to our room and closed herself off in one of the remaining beds, drawing the privacy curtain and making it clear she didn't want to be disturbed for a while. So I went for a jog around the ship. It had been a while since my last bout of physical exercise and unfortunately, my body didn't let me forget about it. After a couple of laps around the deck of the carrier, the cold wind finally got to me and the fact that my legs were on the verge of collapse just further sent home the point that I needed to head back inside. In a rare example of forethought, I had put a fresh change of clothes outside my door so I could shower and get changed without interrupting Kei. Once I finished my cleaning, I decided to get some dinner before testing out the room.

"Oh, G-bear, could you hand me some napkins?" I heard Petra ask as casually as if it were Grimm's real name as I walked into the mess hall. Grimm sighed heavily as I waited in line for food.

"Look, could you please stop now? It's gotten quite old." I glanced back at the table where the voices were coming from to see a Petra who was barely holding back a fit of laughter, a thoroughly annoyed Grimm, and an abashed looking Sylvia who looked like she was slowly dying of embarrassment, retreating into the mass of red curls she hadn't tried to tidy up after our sortie.

"Fine, fine," Petra said unconvincingly, waiving her hand dismissively at Grimm's sour attitude. I finally got my food and headed over to the table. A look of mild relief came to Grimm and Sylvia once they spotted me and Petra glanced back to see what had brightened their spirits. "Hey boss-man," Petra said in greeting as I sat down on her side of the table facing Grimm and Sylvia. "So..." she began as delicately as she could, which was equivalent to an obese rhinoceros trying to walk through isles of a china shop designed for old, thin women. "How's Kei?"

"Sad," I said simply, starting to regret my decision to eat with the squadron. Or, at least my CSO.

"I can relate," Grimm said, glaring at Petra before continuing. "It may be strange coming from a guy who was born in the same country as the one who's responsible for the loss of the Arkbird, stranger coming from the guy who shot it down, but that plane meant a lot more to me than a simple research vessel. It was a symbol, a promise that we could overcome our petty rivalries to achieve something greater." Sylvia finally lost her look of embarrassment and looped her arm around Grimm's.

"It's not strange," she began. "I'm sure there are a lot of Belken's out there who don't even know what's happening and are just as sad and appalled. Besides, it's like Captain Nagase said, G-bea- Grimm," Sylvia said, catching herself from using her term of endearment this time. "When this conflict is over, the president will build a new one."

"I hope so," Grimm replied, temporally forgetting his company and kissing Sylvia's forehead. Realizing what they had just done, in public, in front of Petra, in front of me, both ducked their heads as waves of red embarrassment came over them. "I think I've had my fill," Grimm said in as much a dignified manner as he could.

"Yes, quite the hearty meal tonight," Sylvia replied, getting up alongside him.

"I bet they're going to have seconds tonight," Petra whispered loudly enough to cause a further deepening of red in the young couples faces I hadn't thought was possible. Petra and I had a mostly civil conversation after that, we talked about things like our lives before joining the Air Force, we reminisced about previous hunts, trying to outdo each other with who had it worse on their hunt or who shot from the furthest distance. It was almost 2200 when we finally decided to call it a night.

When I got back to the room, Kei's chosen bed was still shrouded with the privacy curtain. I made sure to be extra quiet as I got into bed, wanting Kei to get as much sleep as her tired and emotionally exhausted body demanded of her. I was just about to fall asleep myself, despite the difficultly I had been having of trying to do so alone, when the sound of the curtain to the bed she was in being drew back roused me from my sleepy state. Without saying a word, she got out of the bed she was in and came to lie down with me.

"It feels weird to try and sleep alone now," she said softly, feeling the need to give an explanation as she brought herself closer to me in the bed we had on the floor. I only nodded in understanding as Kei rested her head upon my chest as she had almost every night we had spent on the ship before. I didn't fail to notice the faint amount of moisture that made its way through my shirt, but ignored it just the same and held Kei as we drifted off to sleep.

**:|:|:|:**

"Sie ist wach," a muffled voice began as I tried to clear my vision of dark clouds. "Sollte ich eine weitere Dosis geben Sie ihr?"

"Nein, das Eingangstor gerade eingecheckt. Der Chef ist hier. Wir wollen, dass sie wach, wenn er hier ist." I finally had blinked enough times to make out the general shape of the room around me. I was in a chair, and there was a table in front of me that my arms were resting on. I was in a small room and there were two men in it with me, one leaning against a polished stainless steel wall to my left and another in a chair right across from me. I tried to lean away from the figure, but my motion was stopped by a pair of hand-cuffs that were attached to the table. Panic began to eat at my resolve to be silent. I had seen enough movies to know that asking questions like 'where am I' and 'who are you' would only get me evil laughter or sideways answers. I wasn't in the mood for either of those responses. The two men in the room seemed like they were waiting anyways. After a long amount of silence, the one across from me looked at his buddy.

"Sie ist ruhig."

"Wirklich, keine scheiße?" the other man asked with a sarcastic look. "Hey, you Whitney Elsworth?" the guy asked with a nod of his head towards me.

"You holding me here illegally?" I asked, trying with desperation to keep any tone other than cool indifference from coming out from between my lips.

"Die Schlampe ist mutig." the man replied, looking back at his seated partner with a cruel smile. "Ich mag es, wenn sie mutig sind." I had no idea what the two men were talking about, I barely even recognized the language as Belken, but I got the impression that what was being said wasn't pleasant.

"Stop it," the man in the seat said warningly. I knew immediately what this was. Good guy, bad guy. They were trying to get me to trust the guy who was seated. Man, I was never so grateful for watching so many movies. I was pulled from my thoughts by the man who was seated. "We just need to ask you a couple of questions. Then you'll be free to go," the man said with a perfectly executed caring smile.

"If you just needed to ask a few questions, why am I hand-cuffed to a table at some unknown location, which, by the way, I was illegally drugged to be brought to?" I asked with as much of a fake smile and cherry voice as the man across from me had used. Suddenly, all pretense of kindness was lost.

"Sind Sie sicher, sie hat ihn nicht kontaktiert?" the man across from me asked. "Sie ist ein wenig zu klug für meinen Geschmack."

"Ah, das ist also der Grund, warum Sie die dummen Nutten zu kaufen." the man who had been leaning on the wall said with a sneer. "Nein, sie hat nicht mit ihm gesprochen, nur gesendet, diesen Brief zu Hauptmann Marcus Snow. Wir durchgesickert Wort zum Yuke's über die Kestrel's Lage, so dass er ein Problem nicht mehr lange dauern. Sie ist einfach smart. Das ist, warum der Chef selbst kommt." Were they talking about Captain Snow?

"Behave for the boss," the man who sat across from me said as he got up and began to head for the door with his partner. "He's not as lenient with back talk as we are." I was left alone in the room for a long time, my movie knowledge letting me know that this was another tactic. They were trying to make me 'sweat it out', make me nervous and more liable to let something slip. I was, despite the circumstances, enjoying how predictable this all was and how ahead of the game I thought myself to be. But it certainly was taking a longer time than I was expecting them. I guessed it to be an hour before I started to hear something that sounded like shouting from behind the door. Then, two loud but brief 'pop's.

I had gone hunting once with Caden, and while I hadn't shot the gun, I knew what one sounded like. Well, what a rifle sounded like at least. This was much... smaller? than I remembered the rifle sounding. Then, there was a rattling at the door. I was starting to get nervous. This didn't happen in the movies. Then the door swung open from behind me. I turned as best I could and saw someone I had been told was dead.

"I tell you the seventh floor, but you go to the lobby. I tell you Yule and Madison, but you go to a coat store on Harper and Drake. I ask you to trust me, and you don't. What happened to the Whitney that used to trust me?" The man then looked at my hand-cuffs and moaned slightly. "Now I've got to search some bodies for keys. Wait here." Despite the context, the man smiled slightly. "I think that's going to be an order you have no choice but to obey." The man walked back through the door way he had come out of, leaving the view beyond exposed to my sight. I could see someone's outstretched and unmoving hand lying on the ground just beyond the frame.

"Found them!" the man explained with enthusiasm that I found misplaced for the occasion. He ran back into the room and undid the cuff's holding me to the table. "Let's get out of here before back up arrives. The real boss should be here in moments. Don't want to be here when that happens." I however, couldn't make myself move. I was in too much shock. "Let's go, I'll explain everything when we're away from here but for the time being, you'll have to trust me. Can you do that?" I finally found the words to use to reply to the man.

"I would've before if I knew it was you who was texting me, Mr. Irving."

**:|:|:|:**

I was roused from my seat by a knocking at the door. "Mr. Irving?" came a voice that struck me with two separate feelings simultaneously.

One was a sense of awe. Not many people can say the President has woken them up, much less, had the man speak to you personally.

The second feeling almost contradicted the first one though. It was dread. I knew what he wanted to see me about and I wasn't sure I had a good answer for him. Or at least, what he would consider a good answer.

I was tempted to feign sleep a bit longer, enjoying the companionable warmth Kei's body was putting off. However, the President's calls had also woken up Kei.

"You can't avoid it forever," she told me with a low whisper that didn't help her argument.

"Caden?" the president asked, resorting to using my first name. I sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a bit," I called out beyond the door. I began to get out of bed and get dressed in clothes that were nice enough to meet the president. I wouldn't impress anyone with a t-shirt and a spare set of ABU pants, but the man had seen me in worse before. As I was about to step out of the room, Kei caught my attention.

"Hey," she called out, sitting in the bed looking up at me. I turned to face her and waited for the rest of her thoughts. "Do what you think is right. For all of us." I nodded and gave a small smile to the beautiful woman.

"I'll be sure to do that," I replied. She gave me a small smile in return and I stepped out the door to find the president waiting a little ways down the hallway.

"So," the man began, pushing his body off the hull of the ship. "Have you thought about my proposal?"

"Yes sir, I have." At my use of sir, the man just waved his hand and closed his eyes as if smelling something pungent.

"Please, it just feels wrong to have people say that. Let's speak, man on man, no status between us."

"As you wish, though, I think it would be wise if we held this conversation in a more… secure environment." I replied.

"Agreed." President Harling said with a smile. "Follow me." I followed the man around the ship a bit more, making many turns until we came to a room that looked like a pretty important office. There was actual wood paneling and a desk, as well as dark blue carpet and a fairly large porthole to the outside letting in a warm orange light from the sun. "Care for a drink?" the president asked, sitting down on one side of the desk and gesturing to a chair on the other.

"No thanks," I replied, waving my hand and sitting down in the chair I had been gestured to. "I think this conversation is one to be had with a clear mind."

"A wise choice," the president said nodding. "I'm going to assume that isn't going to be only one made today," he continued seriously.

"I certainly hope so," I replied, looking the man in the eye. We were silent a bit longer until finally, I decided to begin to explain my decision to the president, beginning with my own thought process.

"I'll get down to the point," I began, breaking the silence in the room. "I realize that the proposal you've offered me is one that has unprecedented honor and trust. For you to offer me, a person who wasn't even natively born in Osea, a position of this magnitude… I am honored."

"You deserve every accolade and accommodation that comes your way, Caden," the president began, a mirth in his voice that made him feel like a kindly grandfather in a sense. "Well, almost every one. Some of the more recent ones, we'll have to fix that, but I think you know what I meant." I smiled at the slight humor the president used. But it was short lived. I had to say what needed to be said.

"After a lot of thought and discussion, I've decided to make my own offer to you," I began, grabbing the president's attention immediately, causing him to lean forward in his seat and lace his hands together. "I want to have a life after this conflict," I began, thinking of just what that life may be like. Before I got to deep into my fantasies and daydreams, I continued. "I want a life that allows me to be there for a family, a life where I can be happy and make those around me happy." At this, the president had a sad, but knowing smile.

"I figured as much," the man began, nodding slightly.

"But I still want to defend peace when it's threatened," I continued, grabbing the man's attention immediately, making him raise an eyebrow at speeds I didn't think were possible.

"But-" the president began confusion the prevailing emotion on his face

"I want to have choice on what missions I take. I want the rest of my squadron to have choice on the missions they take. I'd like for it to be voluntary." The raised eyebrow and look of confusion persisted on the president's face.

"So, it's a yes?" the man asked with a hint of hope. I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"In a way. After this conflict, I'd like to be honorably released from duty, as well as for any other members of the squadron who wish it. I'd like to remain out of the public and press. But, I'd like to remain a tool in your arsenal for keeping the peace. However, that doesn't mean that I'm some kind of drone for you to send out whenever you please. I know that you probably wouldn't ever do anything like that intentionally, but I'd like to have the freedom to refuse a mission for any reason." A look of mild understanding began to come over the president. After a few more moments of him mulling this information over in his head, he spoke up again.

"Well, you certainly haven't disappointed with your wise choices. I had walked in here hoping for you to just come out and say yes, but after hearing what you just said, I'm glad you didn't. Your answer proves to me just how right I am to trust you with such responsibility. I'm glad you thought this over carefully, Caden. I gladly accept your terms and will be sure that at the resolve of this conflict, your wishes are carried out explicitly."

"Thank you, Vincent." At the use of his first name the man smiled.

"Your father used to call me that all the time. It feels just as natural coming from you as it did from him." The man reached under the desk and pulled out an expensive looking bottle of alcohol. "I know you said you wanted to have a clear mind for discussion, but now that it's over, would you care to share a shot?" I hesitated. I'm not usually one to drink, even socially. But in this instance, it just felt wrong to refuse.

"I don't see why not," I replied, conceding to the man who joyfully brought out two shot glasses with the Kestrel's numerical designation and other identifying marks on them.

"To a new friendship!" the president said, handing me my glass and lifting his.

"To friendship!" I said, raising my glass with his and promptly downing the amber liquid with him. The liquid burned strongly, but the aftertaste was surprisingly pleasant.

"Mmm," the president said after a moment. "I'll have to have someone hide that from me else I get a little carried away tonight," the man said with a smile that I couldn't help but catching.

"Thanks for hearing and understanding," I said as I began to stand up from my seat.

"No," the president said, standing up and reaching out to shake my hand in farewell. "Thank you for being an example of what it means to be a model citizen. Of not just Osea, but of this planet. I can respect your decision to remain out of the public's eye, but I can't help but wonder what people would do if they had an icon such as yourself to look up to."

"They can still have an icon," I replied. "Make the Razgriz a champion of the everyday man and woman. We could be anyone and everyone. No need to tell people who we really are." The president nodded thoughtfully to this.

"Wise yet again," he said finally. "Well, I don't know what you usually do on this ship when you aren't getting ready for a mission, but whatever it is, I won't keep you from it any longer. See you again, Caden."

"Likewise," I replied as I left the room. Once I had stepped back out into the hall, I felt lighter, freer. Maybe that was just the whiskey, maybe it was having finally given my choice to the president and him being okay with it. Either way, I felt really good. Apparently, it was visibly noticeable as well.

"Some one seems to be in a good mood," Marcus said spotting me in the hallway.

"You can say that again," I replied, smiling at the man.

"Well, I think I may have a letter that will add to that feeling. In a way..." the man said, looking up into his head as if reconsidering his statement. I began to wonder what Snow was talking about.

"What do you-"

"Maybe I should just show you," the man interrupted, motioning to me to follow him. I complied and began to follow the larger man around the ship to his personal quarters. Once he led me into the room, he reached over to his desk and pulled an opened envelope out of a pile.

"Got it this morning," he said, handing me the ripped package. I saw the address and recognized it immediately as the hospital Whitney was staying at. But the second thing I noticed was whose handwriting it was in. Cliché girly. Why did she send a letter to Marcus?

"Open it up and read it, I didn't give it to you to stare at the address," Marcus said, a small bit of laughter in his voice. But I didn't exactly feel the same amount of mirth. A tirade of emotions were swirling around me. Hope, curiosity, worry, and a weird one that I wasn't quite sure about yet. I pulled the note inside the envelope out and saw more of the same writing as on the outside. The letter was a roller coaster ride, and when I finally got off, I wasn't sure what to say or feel.

"Caden?" Marcus asked, seeing that I wasn't having the reaction he thought I would be having.

"I need to go think," I replied, as I left without a word, taking the letter and envelope with me. Sure, the letter had been addressed to snow, but it was meant for me.


	42. -The Returned, Part Two-

**The Returned; Part Two**

The wind continued to blow in my face, though that was about the only thing I could tell it was doing. The cold had long since made it impossible to really tell much else about my surroundings through the sense of touch. It was the afternoon, but the sun was insisting on hiding behind the thickest gray clouds I had seen in my life, faint areas of them glowing with the fireball behind them.

Why did the world do this to me?

I had read that damn letter at least twenty times, and each time, I felt a different way about it. There was an undeniable amount of joy that was barely contained in my being at knowing Whitney was still alive, was still the Whitney I remembered. But there was sadness in me as well. That was a more complicated feeling. I willed my hand to move again, startling myself when it moved without me feeling the appendage go anywhere because of its numbed state. I glanced at the letter that was almost memorized by now.

_You also killed someone who I've discovered has captured my heart._

The now familiar feeling, no matter how unwelcome, returned. My heart flopped and rolled around in my chest, causing a new sort of pain that no amount of grimacing would stop.

I knew now, and probably could have guessed earlier, that I loved Whitney Elsworth. I also knew, that even with all of the undefined edges and curves in my relationship with Kei, I loved her just as much. But a person can't continue to love two people equally forever. It not good for the heart to be pulled in two different directions; it leads to heartbreak.

I was prepared to live the rest of my life with Kei with the knowledge she wasn't my first love. I knew she was too, I had heard her say it after all to the very woman herself. But for both of us, that task had been made easier by the fact that said person wasn't an active member of either of our lives. Neither dead, nor alive, just… there. A remnant from my complex life that Kei was willing to put up with. Now that she was back…

I took a deep breath of chilled air, almost coughing on it as it seemed to freeze my throat and lungs. A shifting cloud caught my attention a few miles out. It had moved just enough to let a much defined beam of sunlight filter through the dense cover of the clouds.

I knew who my choice would be. Now all I needed to do was inform the people who had an interest in the result.

**:|:|:|:**

"Where are we going?"

"To a safe house," my savior replied, not bothering to take his eyes off the road for no other reason than to glance in the rear view mirror every twenty seconds. We hadn't spoken much and I was starting to go crazy with the amount of questions I had. The fact that each terse response Mr. Irving gave added ten more was starting to make me think I would retain more of my sanity by staying quiet. But my mouth didn't seem to mind if the brain went comatose for another year.

"Where?" Mr. Irving sighed and I began to regret ever speaking.

"I guess you're due some answers. I mean, you did just wake up after a year and I'm sure hospital staff aren't the most informed about international affairs."

"Dora did her best," I said with a slight grin, trying to ease the mood. Mr. Irving's mouth twitched, but he just muttered a half-hearted 'yeah.' After another moment of silence he spoke up again.

"We're going to more… ritzy sub-division." I raised an eyebrow and almost spoke again before I got cut off. "The best hiding places are in plain sight, albeit with good camouflage. Me and Liz are posing as some house cleaners. Not a bad gig," he continued, finally facing me fully if for a moment to try and counter my questioning glare. "I mean, had to change my name to Randell, but I can live with that. Got our own living quarters, so that's a bonus; not very traceable so it's good cover."

I had been with Caden's dad a couple of times in the past, but in almost all those cases, Caden had been with me. Could someone be so different with their son not there to reel them in?

"What else do you want to know?" Mr. Irving asked. "I know there's more. You never were one to be content with the bare minimum when it came to knowing about the situation."

"I thought… Caden said… You died." A mix of emotions fell onto the man's face.

"Caden thought we were dead until about a month ago, at most. Had to send him a message to make sure he knew for certain. He's supposed to be dead too, by the way. Caused a little something of a storm when you sent that letter to Captain Snow."

"I know he's still alive," I said with resolve.

"Well, now so does some of his enemies." I blanched realizing just now what I had done. "No point in worrying over it. Caden wouldn't have lived as long as he has if he couldn't deal with a few people trying to kill him. Well, allow me to confirm what you apparently already know," Mr. Irving said with a noticeable smile. "He's alive, and he sure is letting some people know about it, even without your help."

"You mean-"

"You figured it out yourself, he's part of that Razgriz squadron that everyone's saying doesn't exist. Kind of funny, actually. You make something more real by talking about it and the people who want him gone can't seem to drop it these days."

"So why is everyone pretending to be dead?" I asked, trying to get back to my question.

"Liz and I disappeared for a couple of reasons. The one that is most relevant right now, though, is that the Belken's had been on to me." I continued to look confused so he continued. "Caden may have told you that I used to be a fighter pilot?" I snorted in amusement. If there was one thing I knew about Caden and nothing else, it was that he admired and wanted to be like his pilot father. Taking my unladylike snort as the affirmation it was, Mr. Irving continued. "What he didn't know, and still may not know, is that I was Mobius One." My eyes widened. There were only a few names that I recognized from the world of fighter pilots. Mobius One was one that was of the same notoriety as the Red Barron.

"Good, so you know who I was, that saves some explaining," Mr. Irving continued. "When my family moved here, through a series of events, I became something of a… personal friend of the president and occasionally took on missions that would ensure lasting peace for mankind. Not making this up," he added as I continued to stare at him in dumbfoundment. "Long story shorter, the Belken's figured out who I was, well, almost, and I faked my death to prevent any further damage to people I cared about."

I dropped my gaze from the man and looked out the window in an attempt to try and wrap my head around what I was being told. A light snow was starting up and covering the landscape in a light dusting of white powder that was making my job of focusing harder.

"As for the reason for Caden's faked disappearance, that's a question you'll have to ask him yourself," Mr. Irving said with a small hint of amused teasing. I began to blush as my mind began jumping around to different conclusions. "Mmmhhhmm," he muttered, taking note of my color change but not saying much else. I didn't know whether to be glad or more embarrassed at the fact. The fields we were driving through began to give way to large estates and manors, houses that were much too eloquent for my liking. Then we turned down a private drive lined by some kind evergreen trees that were very well manicured. Now that I had finally gotten over my embarrassment about my feelings for his son, I looked at Mr. Irving to see if he had any kind of reason for driving down such a driveway.

"The Davenport name may not be a well known name in Osean history," the man began, as if this was some recited line he had been taught, or maybe had heard many times before himself. "But it is an old one. Goes back to the feudal times, in fact." The well recited fact then gave out to a much more real tone, though, with the somberness it was said, I much preferred the somewhat annoying factoid. "The family is going through a rough spot right now, so there really isn't too much work for Liz and me."

"What happened?" I asked, not wanting to pry into another's personal matters, but curious just the same. After a long delay, Mr. Irving finally parked the car near a large garage and just sat for a moment before turning the key and stopping the engine.

"That's another question you'd be better asking Caden." With that, he opened his car door and stepped out, the slight and small sound of the crunch of snow and gravel traveling to meet my empty mind.

**:|:|:|:**

The door to our room is hardly ever open. It's not because Kei and I are social hermits, though, at times we can certainly act that way. In this particular case, the reason for our closed door policy was due to our violation of the 'no-sleeping-together' policy. A simple look into the room and one could clearly see two mattresses lying side by side. And then there was the fact that said mattresses had literally been torn from their respective spots. Destruction of government property. If fraternization didn't get us court-marshaled, that would.

So when I found the door open, I panicked a little. Luckily, our room was in more isolated area of the ship, and with the slim crew she was running, the Kestrel probably didn't see too many people down this hall except Kei and me. Nonetheless, I rushed over to the door to see what was going on. The sight inside wreaked havoc on my already tried and tired emotions.

For just a moment, Kei didn't notice me, so she continued as she was, pacing back and forth between one end of the compartment to the other. Considering this distance was a meager five or six feet, she wasn't covering much ground with her pacing. That wasn't what was tugging on my heart though. It was the low mumbling, the tears, and the hands running through her shortened locks, occasionally covering her mouth for brief moments; that was doing it for me. I strained to hear what she was murmuring, but nothing I could pick up was making sense.

"… wouldn't abandon… know that… but…their history… no… shared with-" her shining eyes finally locked with mine in a moment of astonishment.

"Kei?" I asked, unsure of how volatile she was at the moment. She sniffled loudly and pulled her hands from her face, bringing them to rest across her chest before moving one of her hands back up to her face to wipe some remaining tears. She made a move to put her hands back across her chest, but instead moved them to her hips. Finally, she gave up trying to look composed and let her head collapse.

Not being able to take it anymore, I walked into the room and embraced her, placing my arms firmly around her.

"I need to hear you say it," she said softly, her voice barely being able to make it to my ears after being muffled by her sobs and my coat. "I need to know that you won't leave me."

"Kei-"

"I know it sounds needy and desperate and weak and selfish, but… damn it! I need to know you won't abandon me. I need you, Caden." She finally was able to bring her head up from my shoulder and peer up at me through eyes that were submerged in tears.

I gently took my hands and carefully wiped the pools of water away.

"Kei," I began, not looking anywhere else but her eyes. I noticed that, despite her ragged breathing just moment's ago, she was now dead silent, holding her breath as I spoke to her. "I love you, and you exclusively." She broke almost immediately, collapsing into me, not even trying to hold herself up.

"I was so scared," she panted, as she let me hold on to her. "I was so scared that you would..." Neither of us needed to think about that scenario ever coming to pass. I just held Kei as she continued to recover. When she was finally able to stand, I had a question for her.

"How did you find out about this?" I asked as I held up the letter. Kei looked at the paper with hurt eyes, and quickly shifted her gaze back to me.

"Snow came to the mess hall a while after you had left, asking if any of us had seen you. We hadn't, of course, and I asked why he was searching for you. He said that he got a letter from your sister or some family member. I didn't remember you ever speaking of siblings, so I asked for a name. When he told me it was from someone named Whitney, I was… confused. Mostly because the last time I saw her, she was in a coma, but then I began to think what would cause Snow to think she was your sister. So I asked. He humorously told me that your sister had finally figured out that she loved her brother. That was when I left and came here."

"How could someone think this was from a family member?" I asked aloud, looking back at the letter with a scowl. Kei looked at in such a way I was surprised there wasn't any spontaneous combustion. I put the letter back in a safe place, I still needed to give it back to Snow. It wasn't mine after all, even if it was all about me. I looked back down at Kei. She was still a mess. She had managed to make her short hair go crazy and her eyes were still red and puffy from crying, but she looked infinitely more relaxed than when I had first laid eyes on her.

"What do you say to some food?" I asked her, taking a peek at my watch and seeing it was already 1700.

"That sounds fantastic," Kei said with a meager smile. Not a second later her stomach growled and we both couldn't stop from laughing away all the tension the room had contained moments ago.

After Kei had cleaned up, we walked into the mess hall together, turning a couple of heads as we held hands in a brazen display of affection on the military ship. It was inevitable that we would be joined by our squad mates soon, so we enjoyed the last few moments of our mutual company before a third came to join us.

"Larry?" I asked as the lanky man joined our table. "Since when did you eat in here?"

"Good to see you too, Caden," the man said with a mock hurt expression. He then turned to Kei and regarded her with something of a worried expression. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said after a moment of looking down at her plate. She fixed her gaze on the man across from us and then finished her thought. "I'm okay now," she finished, ending with a look directed at me that left the question of who she loved answered in anyone's mind.

"Well, that's good to hear," Larry said after a while. "No one was safe with the state you were in earlier." Kei let out an annoyed sigh and proceeded to give one of her famous slugs of a punch to Larry's arm. I just smiled a bit at the shocked and pained expression on my wing mate's face. No one messed with Kei and got away with it. After Larry's light teasing, the conversation moved to much safer topics and we continued to eat in a relative silence. I was glad that it seemed that the hostilities that had been between Kei and Larry were starting to go away. At least they were civil with each other now. I would have to ask Kei later what it was all about.

"So," Larry said once we were nearly done with our meals. "Did you hear about the shipment that came in last night?" he half whispered in a conspiratorial manner, as if he were leaking a big scoop to a reporter.

"What shipment?" Kei and I asked in near unison.

"Ah," Larry nodded as he playfully smirked at our unknowingness. "So you didn't hear about the shipment that came in last night." Again, Kei and I, in unison, gave Larry unamused scowls. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you, but you didn't hear it from me." Continuing his charade of secrecy, he leaned forward and signaled us to do the same. "Rumor is, Pop's finally found us those replacement planes."

"Really?" I asked with excitement. "What are they? Do you know?"

"Cool your jets, I'm getting there. Let me do my build up. I practiced." Kei sighed again and gave Larry another bruise on the arm. "Shit!" he said in surprise as he looked at her in bafflement. "If your father-"

"Get to it," Kei said in an annoyed tone.

"Fine. You always were impatient." Kei drew back her fist again, but Larry spoke quickly enough for her to put it back down. "Nobody knows for sure what type they are, but I heard from a guy who has a friend in the hangars say that they're experimental, or at least a prototype. Said the old man had to call in some favors to get a hold of them. Apparently, they're three two seater's for you two and Grimm, and a single for Marcus. That's pretty much all I've got. I was kind of hoping that the old man would have called us to meet and show us them already, but he's been more secluded than a monk. Haven't seen hide or tale of him since about ten this morning."

"Can't we just go to the hangar and see them for ourselves?" I asked Larry, wondering why we were still here if there were experimental planes on the carrier.

"You think they would leave doors unlocked to planes like that?" Larry asked. "They don't, I've checked. Four times."

"Well," Kei said, ending her temporary silence. "Then I guess we've got to the source. Let's go see Pop's."

Finding a man on an aircraft carrier can be a difficult task. Especially when no one has seen them in a while. We were finally able to track him down to a remote room with many monitors and various electronic equipment strewn all about the room.

"Pop's?" I asked as we walked into the room, trying to confirm if the man who had his back to us was indeed the person we were searching for.

"Ah, you found me," the man said in his typical grandfather like voice, truing around and giving one of his sly smiles. "What can I do for you three?" he asked, pausing his gaze the longest on Larry.

"We heard a rumor that our new planes have arrived," Kei said, wanting to get down to it as soon as possible.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time," Pop's seemed to mutter to himself before walking past us and motioning for us to follow him. My heart rate began to elevate at seeing our new planes. The fact that they were supposedly rare prototypes or even experimental designs did nothing to control the erratic pounding going on in my chest. "I trust you'll let the rest know that they can view them at anytime as well after this. I'm tired of getting reports of people trying to sneak into the hangars." At hearing this, Larry ducked his head thought the man wasn't even looking at him.

After a short walk, we were back at the place where we had first been introduced to our black Tomcat's. Pop's stopped at the door and deliberately waited longer than was necessary before knocking on the door with a weird pattern of knocks.

"Old school," Larry murmured as we could hear locking mechanisms disengaging on the other side of the door. The passageway opened just enough for someone on the other side to ask a very quite question that only Pop's seemed to be able to hear. After a reply at a similar volume. The door opened completely and as Kei, Larry and I walked into the hangar and laid eyes on our new planes, we were floored.

These new planes were smaller than the F-14's for sure, but they looked just as foreboding with the solid black bodies and dark red accent lines.

"What are they?" I asked, my voice a whisper of excitement. Through the corner of my eye, I saw a small smirk of satisfaction cross Pop's face as he answered.

"What you see before you is the culmination of over nine years of high angle of attack research. You might recognize the basic structure of the plane as an F/A-18, but this plane has so many modifications and upgrades, to call it an F/A-18 anymore would be like calling this ship a canoe." I looked at the man with sock and a desire to know more. Pop's chuckled in response before speaking again. "The developers called it the HARV during development. It's got some long and clunky designation now, but I think HARV is as good a name as any."

"You mentioned modifications and upgrades," Larry said from over by the aircraft, already pawing at different parts of the craft. "What specifics can you give?"

"Well, let's start with the visible ones first, eh?" Pop's said with a small grin. "You've probably noticed the exhaust nozzles look a bit different." At this, I walked around to the rear of the plane and was surprised to see an exhaust nozzle unlike any I had seen on any normal plane.

"Paddles?" I asked, looking at the three paddles around each of the two exhaust ports.

"The controls and actuators for these ones have been built into the plane and as a result are much more streamlined and precise than they were on the prototypes. They provide vectoring in pitch and yaw, and they will also work to increase the maximum roll rate of the aircraft." I began thinking about how responsive this plane could be, what it would handle like with this improvement alone, but Pop's had more. "Then, up here on the nose, you've got some stakes that are forward of the cockpit."

Sure enough, between the beginning of the wing of the plane and the radar housing, there was a weird rectangular shape on either side of the aircraft.

"During normal flight, these stakes do nothing and remain flush with the aircraft like they are right now. However, when the plane is in a high angle of attack or any other position where conventional yaw flight surfaces are no longer viable, they will deploy, allowing for control of the aircraft's yaw at angles of attack up to 70 degrees or more."

"70 degrees?!" Larry asked doing a double take of Pop's. The older man just nodded with the same sly smile he hadn't lost since he began explaining some of the changes.

"Now for the guts," he continued. "Recently, there's been a breakthrough development in radar that until now, has been reserved only for fifth generation fighters. The AESA radar system. These systems will allow for better target tracking, reduce your own probability of being tracked by your planes radar emissions, reduce the effectiveness of enemy jamming, and allow greater combat interconnectivity between aircraft."

"Can it wipe my ass for me?" Larry asked. Despite his question, amazement was still in his voice at all the functions Pop's was listing off for our new aircraft.

"Not yet," Pop's told the man. "Though, I'll send a request in for that in the new block. The last thing that's been done to this plane, and probably the most expensive aspect overall, was that its skeleton was built entirely new with high-strength light-weight alloys." Pop's bored his gaze into me. "Despite that, be careful with them. I don't want to go and have to replace the frames after every sortie because some people don't know what acceptable limits are." Despite the pointed remark, Pop's could do nothing to bring me down from cloud nine. I needed to fly this plane. Our party of four suddenly was interrupted by a man rushing into the hangar, almost being tackled by a guard before Pop's waved the would be tackler off.

"Sir, it's urgent," the man who had just run in said in an out of breath voice.

"What is it?" Pop's asked, a slight note of concern in his voice.

"The president sir. He's leaving the ship." Everyone looked at each other with a similar expression. Shock. We all began to run out of the room and towards the flight deck. Even before we reached the final stretch, I could already hear the sound of six blades chopping through air at large speeds. Just as we got onto the flight deck I saw the man walking towards the helicopter with a purpose about him that made him looked as dignified as any war general. When he saw our party he paused and turned around to regard us. He then strode over to us to speak.

"It's no good, Peter," he said to Pop's.

"I was afraid of that. And this," the man replied.

"Don't worry. They'd be crazy to shoot down a plane with presidential markings as it flies into the capital. No matter how they try and spin that, they'd have rebellion on their hands." Pop's nodded, but he still didn't look assured. "I'll have a marine force with, so don't worry too much, okay?"

"Alright. I still don't like it, but I don't think I can stop you either way." The president just smiled before he turned to the rest of us.

"Here goes." With that, he turned back around and boarded the helicopter which promptly took off and headed towards Oured.

**:|:|:|:**

When I arrived at the Davenport house, or as Mr. Irving kept correcting me, the Davenport manor, I was blown away. I had only seen places like this in the movies and even those hardly did any justice to the gigantic house that I was now in. But despite the grandeur of the house, it hardly felt like a home. Mr. Irving had warned me about how the family was going through a rough patch, but if this was a rough patch, I didn't want to know what a disaster would look like for this family. They were kind enough, in my mind I had thought that these people would be all snooty and high strung, but they were surprisingly down to earth, being very sociable and kind to their help which was Mr. Irving, or as they liked to call him, Randell. I still had to get used to that.

But despite all the niceties, I could detect the sorrow in the family as it busied itself with things to do to keep me and Mr. Ir… Randell entertained. The easiest way for me to see through the show was by watching the youngest member of the Davenport family, Vicki. The child seemed to be lost in another world while the adults around her talked about things she clearly wasn't interested in. I occasionally caught her just staring at the television in what could pass for a small theater sized room. During a lull in our 'adult talk', I excused myself and went to go sit with the child.

"You're Vicki, right?" I asked her as she was drawing with some crayons.

"Uhm-uhm," she mumbled, not looking up from her drawing.

"My names Whitney," I told the girl gesturing to myself even though the move was lost on the little girl who was still staring intently at her drawing. Stopping for a moment, she finally looked up and regarded me.

"Whitnea?"

For a moment, my heart stopped. No one ever called me that except…

I quickly gathered my wits again and looked at the child who was still staring at my face expectantly.

"Almost, Whitney. Though, if you want, I guess you can call me Whitnea." I was rewarded with the first genuine smile I had seen on the little girl. She returned to her drawing which I now looked down at. "So, whatchya drawing?"

"Daddy and his friends."

"Can I take a look?" I asked the child who gave another smile and proudly turned the picture around for me to view properly. There were four people in the picture, all of them holding hands. One figure on the far left had a crudely drawn bow in his hand that wasn't holding what appeared to be a woman's hand next to him. The woman for the most par seemed pretty normal, but the person she was holding hands with to the right of her had bright red hair that was drawn almost like it was on fire. Then the person at the very end seemed like another normal character, except for the big pink heart that was drawn around him.

"That one's daddy," the child said pointing at the man with the heart around him. "He's Uncle Blaze. Daddy says that even though he's got fire for hair, he has a cool head when he flies. And he's right! I even got to feel his head and it's not hot at all!" she exclaimed excitedly. I couldn't help but smile as the child relayed this revolutionary information to me. "She's Aunt Kei, but daddy calls her Edge. She likes to play games with me, and she tells really good stories, and she's really good at explaining things with Uncle Blaze." The child then looked back at the adults at the table who were now talking about starting up a card game. She then leaned in close like she was going to tell me a secret. I grinned and leaned forwards as well to hear what information the child deemed secret.

"I think Uncle Blaze and Aunt Kei are going to get married, but don't tell mommy I said so." I smiled at the small gossip and agreed not to tell anyone.

"Who's the last guy?" I asked the little girl.

"He's daddy's wing-guy. His name is Archer."

"Wing-guy?" I asked confused. "Do you mean wing-mate?" The child's face lit up.

"Yeah! That's what I meant. Wing-mate. Him and daddy fly together."

"So you're dad's a pilot?"

"Yeah," the girl said nodding.

"Where is he?" I asked. It might be a long shot, but if I could meet up with this guy, he might know more about Caden.

"Mommy said he's in a better place," the girl said after a pause. My heart suddenly broke as I began to realize what this family was going through. Before I could open my stupid mouth again, the child spoke up. "I think he's stuck in the TV, though."

"Stuck in the TV…?" I asked, unsure of how to act. I turned around and looked at the TV again, now understanding why the kid kept looking over at it.

"Daddy and his friends were on the TV the last time I saw them, but they still haven't come out yet." I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell this little girl that her father was dead, that he wasn't ever coming back from anywhere. But just as well, I couldn't let her continue to hold on to a hope that her father would come back one day. She would waste her life waiting around for someone who just couldn't be in her life anymore, at least not in the way she wanted.

"I'm sorry sweetie," I said as I got up, patting her on the head. The least I could do was let this child's mother know what kind of thoughts were running through her mind.

"Why do people always say that?" she asked aloud, to no one specifically as she continued to draw on her paper.

**:|:|:|:**

"You all heard Bartlett last night," Pop's began, starting the mission brief. Indeed, last night had been quite eventful. Only an hour after the president left, another encrypted message came in. This time all it had was a time and radio frequency. At the scheduled time, nearly everyone gathered around a speaker in various parts of the ship. The first couple of sentences that came over the channel brought nostalgia in waves that almost toppled me with emotion.

"Hey, it's me!" the voice of Bartlett said with a trademark gruffness that couldn't be copied. "Get the wax outta your ears and listen up. We found Nikanor, the leader of Yuktobania, and we broke him outta prison. This war wasn't his doing at all!" Bartlett then went into detail about how the Gray Men, the organization of Belken's we had been fighting for the last couple of weeks, had been orchestrating a war between the two nations in an attempt to bleed them dry before making a major power grab. Once the whole thing had been explained to us, Captain Anderson set a course towards the area Bartlett said the mission was going to happen. We had no idea what Bartlett would be using to escape Yuktobania, but we didn't want him to have to use whatever it was across the entire ocean. Pop's voice brought me back from my memories as he continued to outline the mission for us.

"Captain Bartlett has rescued Prime Minister Nikanor of Yuktobania. He plans to attack an airfield in northeast Yuktobania, steal an airplane and then escape with the Prime Minister. First, go to the directed area and wait for contact from Capitan Bartlett. He'll likely have you support him as he forces his way into the airfield. More mission details will be supplied to you upon arriving at the local airspace. Dismissed."

We all stood up and rushed out of the room, all of us anxious for this mission for different reasons. I knew Kei was mostly excited to get an old member of the flight back. While I was also anxious to meet up with Bartlett again, I was jazzed about the new aircraft just as much.

Our planes started up without a hitch and Petra and I could hardly stop our excited chatter with each other as we got ready to be catapulted into the air. Apparently, the CSO controls for the aircraft were streamlined and organized in a way that designed to make sense for a CSO, not some aircraft designer. This made her very happy.

We were in operations airspace by 0648, a couple of minutes ahead of schedule and a few minutes before the sun. Now we just waited for-

"It's me..." I heard over my radio, the voice giving away the identity of the man as Captain Bartlett. "I'm okay so far, and the car's hidden under a bush. Other resistance members are hidden all over the place. But I still got a bad feeling about this. We're storming the gate at 0705 hours. Keep us covered I'm counting on you. I think there's going to be an ambush waiting for us."

"Copy that, Captain Bartlett," I replied over the radio, letting the man know we were on board. My confirmation that I had received his last was enough for the man to boldly proclaim his next statement.

"This is Heartbreak One! The jailbreak tour starts here! We're counting on your escort from the air."

"I'll be witnessing your bravery from down here, everyone!" a mysterious female voice called out only a second later.

"Y-yes, Ma'am!" Grimm said with a sort of nervousness that made me want to face palm for the man's sake. I could only imagine what kind of conversation was in store for him and Sylvia when this mission was over, and it hadn't even been three minutes yet.

"Um..." Kei began. "Is there someone else in the car?"

"Me?" the voice asked again. "I'm Mystery Woman Number 1." How many mystery women did Bartlett have with him? "There's a fork up ahead. We have two choices. We can either take the shorter way and face heavy attacks, or take the safer route which takes more time."

"Kid's up there and watching us," Bartlett said, using the nickname that had fallen out of use ever since… "We'll be good taking the shortcut."

"They're going through there?" Grimm asked surprised as he followed the path the rooster tail of dust was beginning down.

"Yee-hah!" Bartlett cried over the radio like a young child having a good time on a mechanical horse. "We're bustin' through! Kid, break down the front gate for me!" I followed the trail the Captain had chosen as well, stopping when my gaze rested on a small grouping of tents, a long gate, and some tall towers, most likely a radio or watchtower.

"Dropping altitude for gun run," I replied, informing my flight as well as Bartlett as to what my actions would be.

Until this point, we had been quite a ways off from the enemy, loitering far enough away that we weren't drawing any attention. However, once the silhouette of my dark plane began descending on the small encampment, small arms fire suddenly began to fill the sky. I ignored it, as I doubted that the small rounds would do anything to the plane other than scratch the paint, and that was if they even hit in the first place. Once I was sure my fire would have effect on the gate, I pulled the gun trigger, letting a few dozen round go down range and demolish the gate that had once stood as an obstacle to Bartlett.

We had been loaded out with four JDAMS and two sidewinders each, but I didn't want to go wasting ordinance at the beginning of the mission when there were still many unknowns. Besides, the strafing run served a physiological purpose as well. Now the enemy knew the Razgriz was paying a visit.

Bartlett barreled through the first gate without issue, a couple of trailing cars with him and none of them receiving any fire from the shocked enemies.

"Nice!" Snow said in admiration of the crazy man who was grounded at the moment. "Now there's a real man!"

"Enemy planes, approaching from bearing 300," Kei said as our new radars began to show us the battle field. "Engaging." I followed after Kei in a backup position while Snow and Grimm remained with Bartlett to cover him. I almost laughed as I caught sight of our target.

"Looks like they weren't expecting air born opponents," I told Kei as the A-10 continued to lumber towards Bartlett's position.

"Yeah," Kei said half-heartedly. I was about to ask what the problem was but I figured it out before I had to ask.

"Just aim for the wing," I told her, knowing of her reluctance to shoot down anyone who wasn't the true enemy, the instigators of this war.

"Right," she said, a little more steel in her voice as she dropped down and nimbly took out the aircrafts left wing, the canopy of the Warthog blowing off not even a second later.

"Nagase, Nagase," Bartlett said with a light chastisement in his voice. "You've kept flying like that and you're still not dead. You're really something!"

"Thank you, sir," Kei said with a small hint of laughter in her voice. I figured she must be happy at having light banter once again, no matter what it was about.

"That you Grimm?" Bartlett asked after another moment, his car still making quite the dust trail as it barreled down the road. "I was planning to promote you to the squadron on the next evaluation."

"Thank you very much, Sir!" Grimm said, clear pride in his voice at the captain's comment.

"Captain Snow from the Naval Air Force? Sorry I haven't introduced myself. I'm kind of shy, you know." I had a brief moment of reminiscing as I thought back to my first real combat mission when I intercepted an SR-71. Bartlett had said almost the same exact thing to Chopper. For a moment, I wondered if Bartlett knew about the fate of our motormouth. But then I figured, if he had been able to get through the web of lies Belka had spun up, he must know about the fates of his own squadron.

"So I hear, Capitan," Snow replied, bringing me back to the mission. "Greetings."

"And I gather that's your brightest student?" the mysterious woman who was riding with Bartlett asked.

"Who? You mean Kid? Well, that goes without saying." I again felt that bubbly sensation of pride at the Captains praise. I remembered the first time he had spoken to me about my piloting skills and how, unlike so many others, from him, it felt genuine and good.

"Damn!" Bartlett suddenly said with surprise that got me back to reality yet again. "They've got cannons." After a pause, the man spoke again. "How'd they pass training with that kind of aim? Get 'em Kid!"

"Copy that," I replied. "Edge, you and I will drop down and give support to the Captain for a while. Archer, you and Swordsman continue to hold altitude and take care of anything that pops up."

"Copy that Blaze," Marcus remarked as Kei and I dove down towards the flashes of light that were making large dust clouds.

"I'm hearing that voice again," Kei told me as we dropped down on the enemy. "All that useless chatter. I've missed that voice." I just nodded in agreement, forgetting for the moment that Kei couldn't see my affirmation, but knowing that just the same, she knew I agreed.

"I'll be taking you to a better place than this for breakfast," Bartlett suddenly said, confusing me to no end as to who exactly he was talking to until mystery woman spoke up.

"Every time we go on a date, you bring along these great adversaries."

"Stop that," Bartlett replied. "You're making everyone jealous."

"You started it," the woman giggled back.

"Ah-hem," Snow interjected before anything else got verbalized between the Captain and his mystery woman.

"And I thought you and Kei were bad," Petra muttered over the radio, making me jerk the stick just enough for a small uncomfortable bump to occur in our flight.

"Enemy vehicles approaching checkpoint," an enemy transmission announced as Kei and I finished up taking out the last artillery piece on a hill side.

"Archer and I will deal with the checkpoint," Marcus told me as Kei and I began to rise in altitude.

"Copy that," I replied, taking an over watch position.

"Is Baranov behind us?" Bartlett asked. "I hope he doesn't make a mistake like last month.

"I heard that," an annoyed voice called back. "I'll be alright."

"I assume you fly your plane the same way you drive?" the mystery woman asked as Bartlett got closer to the checkpoint. "But no loop-the-loops, please!" she added. Suddenly, the straight rooster tail that had been leading began to circle around as I began to assume Bartlett started doing donuts. My jaw dropped at the captain's behavior. Didn't he have the Prime Minister with him?

"Hahaha!" the captain laughed out like a madman, and to be honest, I began questioning his sanity.

"Captain! You're taking too many risks!" The circling dust stopped and resumed a straighter path, but not before Bartlett replied a little teasingly.

"Hey, Nagase, you're starting to sound like my mom."

"How old is this guy?" Sylvia asked over the radio. However, before anyone could answer that question, the enemy spoke up again.

"There are planes with jet-black coloring flying up there," one of the people manning the checkpoint said. "It's almost dawn, but those guys are keeping the sky dark."

"I can just barely see them. They're like shadows."

"Huh," Bartlett said after the remarks from the enemy. "I've got to hand it to Peter. Those black planes certainly lend you an x-factor."

The rest of the trip to the airfield remained just as eventful as the first couple of minutes. We were able to get Bartlett onto base with relative ease, only releasing our bombs when tanks began to show up. After the last one was decommissioned by a strike from Grimm, Bartlett pulled the plane he was 'borrowing' from the hangar and began to taxi.

"Alright, I'm taking off," Bartlett informed us once he had lined up on the runway. "Hellooo sky!" the man shouted over the radio as we heard the sound of a turbo-prop in the background whirling away. "I'm comin' home!"

"Edge to Heartbreak One. We'll fly past our allies' front line and head for the ocean. The Kestrel will meet us on the way."

"Roger that. Just hope we don't run into any bad guys." I really wished there was a solid piece of wood built into the canopy of every aircraft ever made so superstitious pilots could be at ease and knock every once in a while. As there was no wood in my canopy, I wasn't at all surprised when Grimm spoke up with some bad news.

"Incoming aircraft looks like bad guys to me. It's the 8492nd." Sure enough, when I looked down on my radar screen, the enhanced radar was picking up a group of planes that proudly wore an IFF tag of 8492.

"Ah, the long lost Belken Grabacr Fighter Squadron, eh?" Bartlett asked in a voice that didn't show nearly enough concern as I thought was needed. He was in a turbo-prop, after all.

"Is that really them?" the incoming squadron asked. "I saw those planes plunge into the ocean along with the Colonel on my radar."

"It's them, the 'Ghosts of Razgriz.' They were the ones that attacked the mine, too," another voice answered, venom in his words as he spoke of our attack on their home turf.

"All right. Let's find out for ourselves in battle," the first voice responded. I began to steel myself. The last time we tangled with these people, we were down one plane and they had the advantage of surprise. This time, we were prepared. And defeat this time not only meant the loss of our lives, but those of Captain Bartlett and the Prime Minister as well which would mean the war would just continue to go on. We needed to end it now.

"Flight, form up. We end this today," I spoke out with authority.

"Razgriz two copies."

"Razgriz three, Roger."

"Razgriz four, on stand-by." We formed up into our staggered formation, heading towards the incoming flight as fast as the aircraft would allow. It was only a short while before we got eyes on target. Grabacr was still flying their F-15 STOL/MTD's from when they chased us over the island with radio interference. Both of our aircraft had been modified for extra mobility. Now it just came down to skill and nerves.

"Engage," I said lowly, tired of feeling like we were always behind Belka in this conflict. I wanted-needed to get the leg up on them today. I applied full thrust at the lead plane of the formation cutting back only when I was within a thousand yards. Warning alarms began to go off as the enemy pilots began to focus solely on me, but they soon realized what I had done when the rest of my flight started to track them in turn.

"Impressive," one of the enemy pilots muttered as they broke off from engaging me to try and handle Grimm who was beginning to harass the man. "These fighters are definitely the Razgriz."

"Don't make the same mistake as Ofnir." another pilot called out, earning a condescending scoff from another pilot in their group.

"Move in for the attack," one of the enemy pilots began as I noticed two planes ganging up on Marcus.

"Watch your six, Swordsman!" I called out. In response, the HARV piloted by Snow jinked up and practically changed directions, going from a dive to a climb in little over a second, the two modified F-15's falling past the lighter and definitely more nimble F-18.

"Woah," Snow groaned after a moment. "That's certainly different from a Tomcat. I'm not doing that again."

"You okay?" Kei asked with concern in her voice, quickly replaced by a grunt of her own as she pulled a high g maneuver to avoid an incoming plane. "Woah. Never mind, I know what you're feeling."

"Sir," one of the enemy pilots said, cutting off our chatter. "Their planes… I think they've modified them. They're too maneuverable for normal fighters."

"Is that a problem?" the lead plane asked with enough malice to kill a whale.

"No sir,. Reengaging the Razgriz." I suddenly got a spike warning on my radar and jumped into action. I rolled to the left, surprised at how quickly the plane responded and began a tight radius turn in hopes to try and get behind my pursuer. I felt my blood start to drain and began to grunt as the squeezing sensation began as the G-suit I was wearing began to constrict to try and keep me conscious.

"What the hell..." I heard an enemy pilot murmur as I began to reorient myself, now behind the large F-15. Immediately, the plane in front of me began to pull up and apply thrust, his engines glowing to life as he dumped fuel to gain speed. In a normal aircraft, I would have needed more speed before trying to pursue him. I had just performed a maneuver that had robbed me of any momentum that could be used in a climb. In a normal craft, pulling up now would mean a stall, and a stall would mean death with the sharp adversaries we were facing right now. But this wasn't a normal aircraft. I pulled up on the stick to point my nose at the target aircraft. I didn't actually need to gain any altitude, I just needed my cannons to point at the aircraft. The thrust vectoring nozzles did their job and gave me the incline I needed to line up the enemy F-15. Once they were in my sights, I fired my cannon and was rewarded with four impacts on the F-15 along its right wing.

"Grabacr three, your hit!"

"Really?!" the enraged pilot yelled. "That little asshole is MINE!" the man yelled. With the rage the man was experiencing, he clearly didn't think about his next action. As he tried to come back around to me, he put too much stress on his weakened wing, causing a catastrophic failure.

"Grabacr three is down. Remaining units, proceed with caution. These pilots aren't your typical prey." The lead plane was so cool and collected, I began to wonder if he even realized that he had just lost a member of his squadron.

"Gah!" I heard Grimm yell out, snapping me from my thoughts.

"What's wrong Archer?" I asked, scanning the sky as warring alarms began to sound again.

"They're ganging up on me," the man replied.

"This is Swordsman, I can't get to you right now, I've got one on my tail as well!"

"Edge, you help out Swordsman! I'll help out Archer!"

"Got it," Kei said with her own calm that was still as powerful as the leader of Grabacr, but had more emotion in it that didn't make it sound heartless. I moved in towards Grimm, noticing that there were two planes taking turns and switching between pushing him towards each other. He couldn't do much more than roll out of the incoming cannon fire. Pulling off in any direction would put him in line with the second plane. I came in from the side, firing my cannon to break up the party, not really trying to score any hits. The second plane pulled away to come after me while the first one continued after Grimm. Realizing he was now free to move around, Grimm took action. His action, however, amazed me. I saw his air-breaks deploy and his plane begin to slow down rapidly, closing the distance between his plane and the one behind him. Then he pulled the plane into climb, but instead of acceding, he just raised a couple of yards, not enough thrust from his engines to do much more. Then the plane that had been pursuing him passed underneath harmlessly. Dropping his nose back down and retracting the air-break, Grimm opened fire on the plane with precision that resulted in the pilot ejecting.

"Did you just-" Petra began, but I cut her off.

"Yeah." I was suddenly brought back by an alert tone turning into a warning one. "Crap!" I called out as I punched it upwards, throwing my guts into the bottom of my being as the plane worked to rocket me out of where I had been.

"This is Edge, Swordsman's bandits have been dealt with. Only Three enemy planes remaining.

"Don't let them get near you," the lead plane for Grabacr told his remaining companion. "They can still be taken out, just don't lose your nerve."

"I won't be shot down," Kei shot back. "No one's going to take my place as Blaze's wing-mate." Even though the comment from Kei was very apt for the situation, I couldn't help but feel that it held a double meaning for her. Was she still worried about Whitney taking her place? I dove towards one of the planes I saw streaking the sky.

"They're outnumbered, but they're still coming strong," Sylvia said as I continued to chase down the plane that was diving for the ground. I wondered what they were up to when I suddenly realized who would be flying this low.

"Captain Bartlett, take evasive action immediately!" I called out.

"What the-? SHIT!" the man called out. I saw a missile launch from the F-15 and track towards a plane what was barely worth the supersonic warhead. Despite that, the missile passed harmlessly by.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"It was a damn, heatseaker," Bartlett called out, clearly out of breath and trying to recover. "This plane ain't hot enough for it to differentiate between the background heat and the plane itself, despite the people on board."

"Now, now, Jack. Not in front of your student's," the mystery woman said. Meanwhile, I decided to try and take out the plane who was still trying to shoot down Bartlett. As I dropped into a six-o-clock position, the plane began to veer off to the right. I followed as closely as I could, trying to match the fast turn the F-15 could perform with its forward canards. Then the enemy pilot began a steep climb, initiating an after-burn that put him out of the effective range of my cannons. I wouldn't be able to pull the stunt I had earlier. I began to apply more thrust to follow the plane as we quickly climbed above 10,000 feet, above the clouds. The sun was now in the sky and was casting blinding light on the eastern horizon.

"Damn," I murmured, realizing what the plane had done. He was now in the sun and I didn't have visual on him.

"I've got an alert," Petra called out to me, letting me know the enemy plane was spiking us. He was close but I still couldn't see any specks in the blinding rays of the sun. I pulled up higher, hoping to lure the man out and chase me. I would rather have him on my six and be able to see him than anywhere else and invisible.

"Keep an eye out for him as well," I told Petra as I began to climb.

"Got it," she replied. My alert wasn't changing and we had already climbed another couple thousand feet.

"Where is he…?" I asked nobody in particular.

"One plane left," Kei called out from somewhere down below me.

"You were just lucky," I heard a lone pilot call out, his voice bodiless with no plane to identify it with. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dark speck began to emerge from the sun, growing larger at a frighteningly fast pace. I dodged the incoming craft that seemed almost like it was trying to crash into me.

"The enemy still isn't giving up!" Kei called out from below, clearly having seen what had just about happened.

"They never do," Larry said numbly, seeming to remember something in that moment.

I began to try and follow the plane that had streaked by. They were going extremely fast and I was unsure if I would be able to catch up. While our planes may have been more nimble and agile, they were actually pretty underpowered. Compared to the massive thrust to weigh ratio of the F-15, the F-18 was barely getting by. It was probably the one thing they hadn't updated with this aircraft. The Grabacr leader seemed to know this. So did Larry.

"Caden," the man began realizing what was happening. "He's going to try and skewer you. With a missile on his next pass; wait till the very last moment and hope your reaction time won't be enough to avoid it. You'll need to go at him head on."

"WHAT?" three people yelled simultaneously. I yelled it because it was so against common knowledge. Petra because she was in the same plane as me. Kei because… I was in the plane with me.

"It'll work out," Bartlett said. "Trust him, Kid."

"I didn't get the name 'Lancer' for nothing," Larry continued. For a moment, I was lost. Then I remembered Larry's rarely used call-sign. And the story he had told me behind it.

"Okay," I said reluctantly, noticing that the enemy plane was starting to come around again.

"Caden," Petra began trying to get me to change my mind. "What exactly do you plan on doing once you're both coming at each other? Hum? You just gonna hope he turns around and shows you his ass? This plan is flawed. We can't do anything to him that he wouldn't be able to do to us!"

"What's your plan then," I asked as the distance between our planes began to decrease.

"Not this!" she cried out as the alert came back up on the HUD.

"We'll try that one next," I said as the alert changed into a warning followed by a plume of smoke originating from the incoming aircraft. I also noticed that the plane pulled up as soon as the missile was released. I briefly dove down, hoping to dive under the missile and then sprung back up as the plume traveled overhead. I began to pursue the plane but Petra gave me some news that lit a fire under me and made me push harder after the enemy plane.

"That missile is still tracking. It's coming back around for another pass."

"Got it, let me know when I need to move. Until then, I'm chasing this guy." I was hoping that the missile would take some time to come back around and begin to follow me again, hoping that would be enough time to catch up to the plane in front of me. My computer began to work on a lock on of the F-15 that had to bleed enough speed to pull up as sharply as it had. If I was fast enough and the computer was fast enough, I would be able to get a lock on before they got out of range again. But the lock on wasn't going fast enough. The F-15 began to pull off to the right as I was climbing up to meet it and I hardly had enough speed to maintain my climb as it was, let alone change directions. Yet, out of a force of habit, I tried yawing.

And something amazing happened.

Little flaps on the nose of my aircraft responded to my input and my plane began to change directions towards the aircraft. Not questioning the gift I had been given, I pulled the trigger for my guns and was overjoyed with the five round striking the back of the craft, producing a spectacular flame out that forced the pilot to eject. My victory was short lived though.

"Missile still tracking," Petra reminded me. I snapped out of it and quickly stopped my climb, opting to go for a speed gaining dive instead. It didn't take long for the missile to lose steam after that and for me to relax at least a little and join up with my squadron.

"Looks like you got 'em all, but the bastards all bailed out," Bartlett commented as the four of us joined up with his slow aircraft at a lower altitude. "I gotta admit, those guys are true fighter pilots."

"I've got a feeling we haven't seen the last of them," Snow replied, a thoughtful tone in his voice as we all continued towards where the Kestrel was waiting for us to return to her.

**:|:|:|:**

"Good morning," the woman I now knew to be Raenay said by way of greeting as she walked into the kitchen I had been eating in.

"Morning," I replied before taking another spoonful of some sugary kids cereal. It was the only thing I had found, and to be honest, was something I missed quite a bit.

"I see my daughter isn't the only one who likes that stuff," the woman said with a grin. I laughed a little at the light teasing and continued to eat anyways.

"She's a great drawer," I said to Raenay as she sat down at the table with me and poured herself her own bowl of the sugary cereal.

"I know, right," she replied, turning around and looking at a picture on the fridge. It was almost exactly the same as the one I had seen her drawing yesterday, but now there was a blue dog barking with thunderbolts around it.

"What's up with that dog?" I asked nodding my head at the picture.

"Oh..." the woman said a small hurt look on her face that made me regret asking. "He's supposed to be the emblem of my husband's fighter squadron. Wardog." My eyes suddenly widening didn't go unnoticed by the other woman. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Wardog?" I asked in clarification. "As in the squadron from Sand Island?"

"Yeah," the woman said nodding, a confused look coming to her eyes. "What's this-"

"Do you know if a man named Caden Irving ever worked with your husband?"

"How do you know that name?" Raenay asked, shock evident on her face.

"So he did? Please, you've got to tell me. We were family friends for a long time and I've not seen him in forever. I've got to speak with him." Raenay took a deep breath and looked down into her cereal bowl.

"They came here a couple of days before it happened," the woman began. "They were all so close, more like a family than a fighter squadron." She got a faraway look as she remembered. "Caden, he dyed his hair red for my kid's sake. Alvin had told Vicki that he had hair that was on fire, that's why he was called Blaze." Suddenly, my brain came to a screeching halt.

_I think Uncle Blaze and Aunt Kei are going to get married._

"Um," I began as I felt my face starting to drain. "Was there a woman in the flight too? A Kei, by any chance?"

"Oh, yeah," the woman in front of me began a smile finally coming to her face. "She was with them too. Never more than ten feet from Caden, always giving him those googgly eyes when he wasn't looking."

I was panicking. Was I too late?

"They never confirmed or denied anything, but I bet that by this time next year, they'll be an 'official' couple."

I began to hope and pray that Caden's cluelessness held out just a bit longer. It needed to. I had to find him before this other woman took what wasn't hers to have.


	43. -Going to See a Man About a Boot-

**Going To See a Man About a… Boot**

After we had fought off the Grabacr squadron, we had to fight ourselves at not tackling Captain Bartlett with questions. We escorted him the entire way back to the carrier, despite his incessant ravings that he could look out for himself. Besides his occasional outburst though, the radio was silent. It was the tense kind of silence that even children know can't be broken, so it continues until an outside force acts upon it. The outside force in our case was landing on the Kestrel. Bartlett was first to land, followed quickly by us. Once Petra and I had climbed out of our planes, we almost made a b-line for the deck. Almost being the operator word.

We had seen Captain Anderson and Pop's Waiting for Bartlett out on the flight deck. I knew that important things were going on and I wanted to be part of them for myself. But upon exiting my cockpit, I saw a team of medical personnel around two of our planes. Marcus had a couple of people helping him down on a specialized ramp. While he seemed to be standing without much assistance, he looked hurt. I tried to remember what would make him wince at every move and then remembered the sharp maneuver he had pulled during our fight with Grabacr. I winced in sympathy remembering my own high G move that had caused similar injuries back when we worked with Reindeer squadron. Then I looked over at Kei's plane.

Sylvia was already on the ground speaking with one medical officer while two more were standing near the cockpit with Kei on another ramp device. First, I was worried. Perhaps she was in worse shape than Marcus and he looked pretty bad. But then I saw one of the medics waving his arms as if trying to regain balance. She had to be in good shape to do that.

"Pushing doctors, Captain Nagase?" I called out to the woman, forgoing any trip to the flight deck to have some fun with my… we really needed to come up with a label.

"Only when they start poking me in places they shouldn't!" she yelled back indignantly.

"Someone poking your boo-boo's?" I asked in a jesting tone. Sylvia looked over at me, her orange hair bouncing a little at the motion.

"I don't think those are the places they were poking," she said, a small smile on her own face. She would never let Kei see it though, because the woman seemed to be getting more and more riled up. I found my attitude starting to match.

"What are you poking there for!?" I yelled up to the man who was starting to shrink to the size of an ant. An ant I was about ready to squash.

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" Kei yelled at the man.

"Come on Mike," the man next to the cowering one said, putting his hand on the man's shoulder. "I think you're done playing doctor for the day."

"HE'S NOT EVEN IN MEDICAL?!" Kei yelled from her cockpit seat, still not getting out and wincing a little when she moved. The man who would now probably need to change his pants did the smartest thing in that moment and just ran from the room as fast as he could, occasionally whipping his head back to see if he had picked up a pursuer. He almost made it out of the room. Almost being the operator word. Petra, who had been by the exit listening to the whole exchange, probably waiting for me to join her up top, made sure the man would be leaving the room in a… less conscious state.

"Well shit," the man who was still on the ladder said. "I'm going to make sure he didn't get a concussion. William, can you get her to medical?" the man finished, looking towards the man who had been speaking with Sylvia.

"Sure, just let me wrap up this report," the man said as he began to ask Sylvia some more questions.

"What's going to happen to him?" I asked the man as he came down from the special ramp.

"We'll see what Anderson says. I know it won't do justice, but sorry for his behavior. I tried to dissuade him but-"

"Just be sure you tell what happened to Captain Anderson," I told the man before going up the ramp to speak with Kei. "You alright?" I asked quietly, making our conversation private.

"It hurts," she said honestly. "I pulled a maneuver a little too forcefully at the beginning of that engagement. I'm just glad Sylvia's alright."

"That's not really what I was after," I told her, nodding my head towards the still unconscious man near Petra's feet. It looked like she was being talked down from kicking the man in sensitive areas by the doctor who had gone to check on him. I glanced back at Kei who was glaring at the man and probably hoping Petra wouldn't listen.

"Only one person's allowed to touch me like he did." Suddenly, the hangar became a furnace and both our faces became a nice shade of tomato red.

"Staff Sergeant William," I called out to the man after assessing the ranks on his sleeves. He looked up at me as soon as I called out his name.

"Yes, sir?"

"I'll be taking Miss Nagase to medical."

"Yes sir."

"Caden?" Kei asked a little shakily as I returned my focus to her. "What are you-" I cut her off as I reached into the cockpit and lifted her out. I than continued to carry her towards medical. After she had been checked out by a medical professional and given some painkillers, we retired to our room to rest.

"Can I tell you something?" Kei asked after a while. We both were sprawled out on the beds on the floor, neither of us minding the other's limbs or stinky flight suits we still had yet to change out of.

"You can tell me anything anytime," I said, rolling my head to its side to face her. She had her gaze locked on the ceiling above us.

"I have always been afraid of losing people," she began simply. "But so far, I've done a great job at it. I guess it started after my mom died. She left, and there wasn't anything I could do to bring her back. Then dad left, and for the longest time, I thought he wouldn't come back. I guess that's one of the reason's I hated Larry so much, for stealing my father away from me for that stupid war. But in hating him, I lost an Uncle. I lost my friend when she got promoted. I lost Captain Bartlett at the beginning of this war. We lost Chopper over November City..." she stopped and I saw a small river start to form on her cheek. I unburied my arm from underneath her body and took her hand in mine. Seeming to draw strength from the act, she sniffled a little and continued.

"When you and I first met in that hangar back at Heierlark, and I found out we'd be going to Sand Island together, I prayed I wouldn't lose a friend. When I lost Captain Bartlett, I prayed harder. After that night from coming back from being shot down, I had another reason to pray harder not to lose you. When we lost Chopper, I was devastated, but I knew I could keep going because I still hadn't lost you." She finally turned her head to face me. "But that letter… Caden, that letter almost killed me. It almost took the one person that seemed like they would stay in my life forever." Kei squeezed my hand for a moment before continuing. "Caden, I know we may not have been together as long as other couples, and I know that the time we have spent together has been in less than optimal conditions, but I want you to know that I've chosen who I want to spend the rest of my life with."

The room was silent for a long time after that sentence. We both continued to look at each other, our eyes barely moving from looking into the others.

"Kei," I said after an entirety, my voice very soft and quiet.

"Yes?" she asked a little shakily yet just as softly and silent.

"I think I was supposed to say that part."

Nothing could stop Kei as she moved forward and kissed me more deeply than either of us had ever gone.

"I love you, Caden Irving," she said after the act, leaving herself implanted against my body.

"I love you too, Kei Nagase," I replied as I held her close. There was no more comfortable way to fall asleep.

**:|:|:|:**

When Mr. Irving finally got up, I decided to see if he needed any help with his house chores. For being a hired help, he sure knew how to sleep in. Half way through a job of cleaning out some duck ponds of their fallen leaves before the first freeze, Mr. Irving's phone went off.

"It's Liz," he told me before flipping open the phone and answering the call. "Hello?"

I looked back up at the Davenport Manner. All day I had been feeling anxious. Since finding out this morning, I had been thinking about the situation with the woman Raenay had told me about. I so badly wanted to do something about it but I was stuck here with no way to contact Caden. It was maddening and I was hoping that work would help take my mind off things.

"You're sure?" Mr. Irving asked. I glanced back at Mr. Irving with curiosity. His tone was very serious and he seemed to be thinking hard and fast. "Get the emergency bag together. We're going to him." With that, he snapped the phone shut and addressed me. "The president has been sighted and he's going to land publicly in Oured. If he lands, the Belken's will accelerate their plan. We need to tell him what is really happening if he doesn't know already. There can be no mistakes, not when we're dealing with people willing to nuke their own country."

"Am I coming with you?" I asked, fully intent of coming with him regardless of his answer.

"Whether you like it or not, you're in their cross-hairs as well now. You're safer with me than without."

"Fine with me. I've always wanted to visit Oured anyways."

**:|:|:|:**

The painkillers Kei was on were making her sleep like a rock, but that was a good thing at the moment. Today was the 23rd, and if my math was good, that meant it was only two days until the 25th, which would be Christmas. After the event's that had just transpired between Kei and I, the perfect gift made itself known to me. However, finding my particular idea of a gift while at sea might provide a challenge. I decided that thinking on an empty stomach would prove fruitless so I went to the mess hall for some chow.

Today we were feasting upon vegetables and spaghetti with a side of a bread roll. A surprisingly hearty meal that I devoured like a primal animal. My feeding didn't go unnoticed.

"You eat like that and she still likes you? Let me tell you kid, she's a keeper." I nearly choked on my food upon realizing who was speaking to me. "Whoa, now. Don't go and die on me."

"Captain Bartlett!" I said after getting my food back under control. I stood up to shake the man's hand and he gladly reciprocated the action.

"God, it feels good to shake instead of salute," the man said with a wiry grin. After we both sat down at my table, he spoke again. "So, flight lead, huh? Is it fun?"

"It has its moments," I replied picking at my food I had been ravaging moment's ago.

"Everything has its ups and downs, kid. You just gotta learn to ride them," Bartlett said, picking up the mood I was feeling.

"So you know, then? About Chopper?"

"Yeah," he said nodding but looking off into the distance. "When that piece of news reached Yuktobania, there were two reactions. Two reactions that everyone had, one right after the other."

"What do you mean?"

"They got footage of what happened of course. When he went down, everyone was amazed. They were thinking they could finally turn the war around if they could shoot down the Demons. But before the government could shut the broadcast off, they saw what the three of you did after that. Then, they got even more scared than they were before." We were silent a few more moments before he spoke up again. "But that isn't the only thing I know about. How's Nagase doing these days? Bunk beds are fun, especially when there ain't a bed between you."

"I see you've meet Petra," I said plainly, doing my best to try and control my color change.

"You know, you're the second guy to say that and I still haven't met this woman."

"Perhaps it's for the best. Your mysterious woman friend might hold it against you for leaving her for Petra."

"Oh, yeah! I forgot you haven't met Nastasya yet."

"She the lady friend Pop's is always going on about?"

"The one and only!"

"How's the Prime Minister?"

"You sure like changing subjects. Time for a course correction. What are you going to do for Christmas?"

"What?"

"What are you doing for Christmas, kid? It's got to be special else you're in the doghouse."

"I don't think I-"

"I heard there's a guy on this boat, a mechanic who used to be a welder when he was a civilian. Did great stuff with metal. Maybe he could fix you up something."

"How did you-"

"How did I what?"

"… Never mind. You know where he is?"

"Hey, said I've heard of the guy. I don't have a clue where he is. Marcus might, he's been on the ship a while."

"Okay, thanks," I replied as I got up from the table. Bartlett had one last word for me before I left, however.

"Hey, I may not be your flight lead anymore, but I sure can be your wingman."

"I look forward to flying with you," I said, slightly confused by the man's statement.

"Okay, we'll both pretend that's what I meant," Bartlett said returning to his meal. I went to go look for Marcus to see if he knew this welder. I tried to remember the trip that Kei and I had taken together the first day we had come aboard the ship. I smiled as I walked, remembering the man's reaction to our questioning of our sleeping arrangement. I found myself at the door to his room and didn't hesitate at knocking. Within a few moments, the large frame of the man appeared at the threshold.

"Caden, how can I help you?" the man asked, looking around the hallway as if searching for someone else.

"Captain Bartlett was saying that he heard of a guy on this ship who used to be a welder. Apparently he's a mechanic now, but I was wondering if you knew him and could possibly tell me where he was."

"The bastard," Marcus said under his breath, taking me by surprise a little.

"Um… If it's a problem I can-"

"No, no, it's fine. Just… So what do you need the services of a welder for?" I contemplated telling Marcus my plan, but ended up deciding against it. The fewer people who knew about it before it happened, the less of a chance of Kei finding out before hand.

"Er… an eyelet… on my boot. Yeah, an eyelet on my boot is busted up and I need someone to fix it."

"We have plenty of spare boots lying around. Why not just get a new pair?" Marcus responded, a small confused smile on his face.

"Well… The boots I've got now… They've been with me since the beginning. Sentimental value and all."

"Right… Well, I don't know if he'll be able to fix up your boots, but maybe while you're talking to him, he'll pique your interest in something else."

"Maybe he will," I said as evasively as I could. For a moment, we just stood looking at each other, Marcus clearly waiting for me to break down and tell him what I was really going to be asking the welder for. When I didn't he finally let out a sigh of breath he had been holding.

"Last I heard, Petty Officer First Class Rupert was posted in the hangar we use. He's probably there now checking the frames of our aircraft after that last engagement."

"Thanks. How are you by the way? I saw you being helped out of your plane when we got back."

"Oh I'm fine for the most part. A little bruising and internal shenanigans that went over my head, but nothing more. Just hurt a lot, mostly. They've got me on this stuff to help out with that. Just can't fly while I'm using it. They stressed that bit. A lot."

"Good to hear you're alright. Well, I guess I'm off to see this Rupert fellow. About my boot."

"Alright. I hope he helps. You know, with your boot."

"Yeah. See you around Snow."

"See ya." I exited the man's room and began walking towards the hangars, beating myself up with the lame excuse I had come up with. A boot? Once I got to the hangars, I saw a group of mechanics working on one of the F-18 HARV's. Some of the panel's were removed and cables were coming out of the plane at seemingly random locations.

"Blaze, nice of you to stop by," Pop's said from a nearby tool box as he caught sight of me. "Did the need to check on the other love of your life strike you, or you just stop by to chat?"

"Neither actually," I said, failing to keep the slight laugh from coming through my response. "I was actually wondering if there was an AM1 Rupert here." Pop's failed to keep the surprise from his face at my request.

"Yeah, Rupert's here. You possibly couldn't need him for… welding, could you?"

"Yes. For welding. Got a problem. With my boot." Pop's raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"You need a welder for your boot?"

"Yep. Eyelet, specifically. So where's this Rupert fellow?"

"Rupert," Pop's called out towards the F-18. A man who seemed to be in his forties popped his head out from the other side of the plane.

"Yes Mr. Beagle?"

"Captain Irving would like to speak with you. About a boot, apparently."

"A boot, sir?" the man asked with a confused scowl.

"It's between you and him now," Pop's said with a wave of the hand as he walked towards the plane to do some more diagnostic work. Rupert put down the tools he had been using on a near-by tool cart and walked over to me.

"I don't know how I can help you with a boot, sir," the man said apologetically.

"I'm not really here for a boot," I said in a low conspiratorial tone. The man immediate caught on to the shift in conversation and peered over his shoulder to check the people behind him.

"What's this about, then?" he asked in a similar low tone after confirming we weren't being listened to.

"I heard from some people that you used to be a welder. Is that true?"

"Yes sir."

"Could you possibly make me something by tomorrow? You'd need to be discrete about it until after the 25th."

"What did you have in mind?"

"A ring."

"A ring? Like, a spare or replacement part for your aircraft? Was it missing during your last-"

"No, no, like a ring for your finger."

"Oh. So… What kind of ring for a finger?"

"Engagement."

"Hm. Those usually have diamonds in them, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm a little short on diamonds at the moment."

"I figured as much. You got any ideas on what you could use instead? Money's a non-issue."

"I've got some ideas, but money isn't the problem. I really just need some time. Right now, I'm scheduled for maintenance work clear up to the 27th. If you could get me free time, I could finish your ring by tomorrow no problem."

"Alright, I'll get you your time off. Just make sure it's done by tomorrow evening."

"It's a done deal then. Just… do you happen to know what size?"

"Uh..." I looked down at my hands. I had held Kei's hand's plenty of times before, but never really paid much attention to what size her fingers were. It's not something you typically pay attention to with much scrutiny. "I guess… about the size of my pinky?"

"Well, that's better than nothing. Okay, I'll get started on it as soon as I can, just get me that-"

"Hey, Pop's," I called out, interrupting Rupert.

"Yeah?" replied the experienced ex-pilot.

"This man needs the next two days off. To work on my boot."

"This boot must mean something fierce to you."

"More than you know."

**:|:|:|:**

"So, Whitney, how's your sister doing?" Mrs. Irving asked as we continued to drive. We had been on the road for about an hour now and would probably be in Oured by ten this evening. So far, the trip had been filled with an intense silence that only now was broken by Mrs. Irving's attempt at casual conversation.

"Kim? She seemed to be doing well. Matured a lot from the last time I saw her. I couldn't believe she was the same person."

"That's good to hear. What about your parents?

"Still separated, or so Kim told me. They both called me when they found out I was up. Too busy to come and stop by, though."

"I'm sure they would've come if they could," Elizabeth tried, reaching out and patting my knee. In that moment, she was more of a mother figure than my mom had been in the last few years.

"Yeah, sure," I muttered under my breath. When I had first been told my bill for my stay at the hospital had already been covered, the first thing I thought that had happened was that my parents had put aside their differences for their injured daughter. After all, I still though Caden to be dead. But then Kim told me that mom and dad were still divorced and were only footing about twenty percent of the bill. Combined. She never said anything defiant, I think she was trying to spare me some pain, but I figured it had to have been Caden who covered the majority of my bill. That revelation only served to cause me to search for proof of his survival harder.

"I bet you're just as anxious to see him as we are," Mrs. Irving said after a while.

"The president?" I asked, unsure of who she was speaking of.

"'The president'," Mrs. Irving laughed to her husband who was chuckling a little himself. "No, silly. Caden."

"Oh," I said turning red in the face. "Yeah, I guess."

"'I guess'," Mr. Irving mocked to his wife, making me feel even more embarrassed.

"Stop, Andrew, you're embarrassing her," Elizabeth scolded, slapping Andrew's arm.

"He's a good lookin' guy, ain't he?" Mr. Irving continued, earning another slap from his wife.

"He's not even your biological son. You can't attribute a single one of his looks to yourself. Now get over yourself."

"Biological Smiealogial. I don't need to be his biological dad to give him a winning personality. That was all me."

"Oh please. Caden has more sense than you could ever gain in a thousand years. If anything, he rubbed off more on you than the other way around."

I just sat back and was glad the attention was no longer on me as the couple continued their little row. If we really were going to meet up with the president, maybe there was something he could do to get me in touch with Caden. One can hope.

**:|:|:|:**

Now that Rupert had brought it up, I couldn't stop trying to gauge what size Kei's fingers were without her noticing. We were currently both in the mess hall of the ship along with most other non-vital crew members who could spare the evening. Captain Anderson had put on something of a little party, shouting 'regulations be dammed' before putting on some Christmas songs and pulling out some festive decorations. It was easy to see Prime Minister Nikanor's fascination with the way Osean's celebrated the holiday by the way he stood off to the side and just observed everyone with a large goofy grin. Kei and I were at our own table on the perimeter of the party watching things as well.

"What are you doing?" Kei asked suddenly, causing me to snap my scrutinizing gaze from our hands.

"Nothing. Just… You've got really pretty hands, is all."

"Okay..." Kei said, a weird mix of emotions hidden behind her amused smile. I was still keeping an eye out for Rupert. He had told me that he would come to the party to give the present before it got too late. However, it was already 2100 and I could tell the noise and commotion was starting to get to Kei. Finally, I saw the man pop into the room, trying his best to be inconspicuous in his search for me around the room, but failing horribly.

"I'm going to go get a drink. Want one?"

"Sure, but once we're done with them, do you mind if we leave? I'm starting to get a head-ache."

"How about this, I go and get some drinks and we finish them elsewhere. We don't have to stick around if you're not enjoying yourself."

"Sounds good." I nodded and gave her hand a small squeeze before I stood up and went towards the drink tables, making sure Rupert saw me. I began to busy myself with choosing which type of soda to pick up when the other man showed up at my side.

"Sorry about the wait, but I think you'll like it."

"I'm not the one who has to like it," I replied without looking over at the man, trying to be discrete in my conversation with him. "She just has to love it," I finished, nodding my head in Kei's general direction.

"Wait," Rupert said with a little confusion. "This is for Captain Nagase?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Maybe I should've done another round of buffing..." the man murmured to himself.

"Just give me the ring," I said, still trying to look like choosing a soda was the most challenging task known to man. Through the corner of my eye, I saw Rupert take a quick glance back at Kei before quickly handing me a wrapped up piece of cloth.

"Sorry I don't have a better container for it but-"

"No, it's fine. I don't plan on keeping it wrapped up much longer anyways."

"Good luck, and thanks for the time off."

"Thank you for your services. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. I still feel like I owe you a lot more than a few days off."

"And he hasn't even seen it yet," Rupert murmured to himself again as he walked off. I finally picked up two cola's from the cooler I had been standing at for way too long and made my way back to Kei.

"Tough choice?" Kei asked with a large grin on her face once I made it back to the table with drinks in hand.

"You wouldn't believe the breadth of selections," I began dramatically.

"Okay, I think we need to get out of here before you become even more ridiculous."

"Sounds good," I replied happily, following her lead out of the mess hall, the festive music fading as we walked further and further away from the party.

We didn't have any real destination in mind when we left the hall and that reflected in our random wandering through the carrier. Finally, we decided to hunker down for a bit in one of the hangars that had its door open to the exterior of the ship. I sat down against one of the walls with Kei following up and sitting in my lap, our combined warmth keeping the chill from outside from bothering us too much.

"Is something wrong?" Kei asked after a few moments of silence.

"Huh?" I asked a little confused, unsure of why Kei thought something was wrong.

"You've been acting a little strange lately."

"Oh," I replied dumbly. "No, every thing's good."

"Is it because of what I said yesterday? I mean, I guess-"

"Kei, trust me, nothing's wrong. It's just… I've been a little nervous."

"Nervous? About what?"

"Well, I told you I felt the same way about you as you did for me, right?"

"More or less," Kei replied. I cleared my throat and spoke again.

"Kei, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You're one of the strongest, most intelligent people I know. When you put your mind to something, it's as good as done. You've got a heart as big as the moon and I feel honored that you'd put it in my hands. I've been nervous lately because I've been trying to get something that will show you that I'm prepared to do the same." At that moment, I took the cloth wrapped ring from out of my pocket I had stowed it away in. By this time, Kei was staring at me with rapt attention and gasped slightly at the sight of the wadded cloth.

"Is that what I think-" she began in a whisper of a voice before I began unwrapping the material.

To say I had been a little apprehensive of what the ring looked like would be an understatement, but as the cloth fell away from the metal, my fears turned out to be for naught. I wasn't sure what the metal was, but I was pretty sure it wasn't aluminum, it was too heavy for that. It still had a bright silvery metallic sheen that went well with some type of bluish crystal in center of its band. Needless to say, we were both enamored with its beauty for a couple of moments. Finally, I got my head back and looked over at Kei.

"I know we kind of already said we were sticking together, but… Kei will you-"

"Yes," she said quickly before silencing me with a loving kiss. I was pretty sure that this Christmas Eve was the best either of us had in our lives.


	44. -Chaos Abounds-

**Chaos Abounds**

"So wait, you guy's had a pool on when I'd do it?" I asked in shock.

"Well… you make it sound bad when you put it that way," Marcus said in an attempt of defending himself.

"Look kid," Bartlett began as if he were about to lay out the facts of life, rolling up his selves to let me know some top notch hand gestures were on their way as well. "We all knew you had big mushy feelings for Nagase," he began by making sweeping arcs and some mildly inappropriate squeezing gestures. "Some of us just thought you would act slower on them than others thought you would."

"Yeah, and some of us remember a 'no interference' rule we put into place," Marcus tacked on, looking at Bartlett with a stink eye.

"Since when has friendly discussion been interference?" Pop's asked innocently.

"You too?" I asked in surprise as Pop's joined the table that was starting to become crowded.

"What, nothing wrong with betting on something that's sure to make you money," Pop's said slyly.

"You know, now that I'm thinking on it, I think Thunderhead had mentioned something about paying you on another bet dealing with Kei and me."

"How about these doughnuts?" Pop's said evasively, picking up said food item and shoveling it into his mouth, exempting him from further discussion. I just shook my head in disbelief and continued to eat the pastries that were still left over from the Christmas party a few days ago.

"Hey Caden," Marcus asked after a short while. "Did Rupert ever tell you what that ring was made from?"

"Let me guess," Pop's began in a flat tone that if I had to guess, sounded slightly irritated. "Cobalt steel?"

"How'd you-?" I began before Pop's interrupted again.

"Found a bunch of holes in some of our high speed steel tools. Going to have to replace some blades when we get back to shore. You'd better hope we won't need to use those any time soon."

"Well the metal's great and all," Snow began shaking his head with a little smile. "But I'm guessing she was more into the stone. What was it?" I noticed that everyone was listening with rapt attention. It was strange for me to have all this attention and for the subject not to be about fighter jets.

"I could be pronouncing it wrong again, but I'm pretty sure Rupert said it was a Plancheite stone. He said he got it off someone who had a little rock collection on the ship. It's light blue with darker patches and looks really good with the metal he used. I'm pretty sure Kei was impressed too." That comment drew immature chuckles from everyone.

"What's going on here?" Grimm asked as he came to our table with Larry right behind him.

"Just having a nostalgic trip back to fifth grade," I replied rolling my eyes.

"We're teasing Caden about his 'one and only,'" Pop's translated for the slightly confused man.

"You mean the whole thing with the ring?" Grimm clarified as he sat down in one of the few spots still open.

"I think so, Grimm," Larry said as he sat beside the younger man.

"Nice going with that one, Captain," Grimm began in a sour tone. Everyone looked over at him with either shock, confusion or a combination of the two. Picking up on the stares, Grimm decided to elaborate. "Ever since the 25th, I've gotten not so subtle hints from Sylvia about how her finger is still bare." Another round of immature laughter ensued. None of these people were going to be responsible for my bachelor party if I could help it. Suddenly, an alarm went off making all of us jump.

"That's a hostile fleet warning," Marcus said after a second. Not a moment later, Captain Anderson's voice came over the speaker.

"Razgriz Squadron, your presence is required in the air immediately." What was going on?

**:|:|:|:**

"What's going on?" the president mumbled after a couple of moments of fiddling with the radio. I looked on with anxious worry. We had arrived at Bright Hill back on Christmas Eve, almost timing our arrival perfectly with Marine One, the president's personal helicopter and Marine force. In a move I had thought was suicidal, Mr. Irving had practically charged up to the president ignoring the warnings his entourage of gun wielding body guards were shouting. As soon as the president noticed him, however, we were given a royal treatment by nearly everyone. It made me wonder just how close the president was with Caden's family.

For a few days, there was a huge political minefield that the man had to walk through. Apparently it's difficult for an ousted president to regain control of his own country. Who would've thought? After some very public trials with no shortage of subterfuge and backstabbing, public trust was pulled from the people who, for all intents and purposes could be called war-mongers. They were promptly put under arrest to await further public trials but the war wasn't over yet. Leadership in Yuktobania was still anxious to see the war carried out to the end. They didn't seem to care if it had been escalated by unjust means or not, they were only interested in the complete defeat of Osea. And, to pile on top of that, there were some rouge elements in his own military that had suddenly gone dark when news of the president's return went public. Despite this, the president had seemed almost happy yesterday evening at dinner. Yup. I ate dinner with the president. One more thing off the bucket list.

But at the moment, all that happiness that had seemed to be present last night, was gone.

"I can't reach them on any frequencies," the man told Mr. Irving after another couple of moments. "The only thing I can do now is wait for one of our specialized communication satellites to pass overhead or for whatever is jamming their frequency to be taken out. Either way, we won't be able to reach them for another twenty minutes at the most."

"Just who are you trying to reach?" I asked at last, tired of being left in the dark as Mr. Irving and the President talked like old pals.

"Razgriz squadron," The president said after a small glance at Mr. Irving who gave the other man a nod. Wait, did the president just ask for permission from… Wait, Razgriz!?

"Caden's Squadron?" I asked Mr. Irving with hope.

"Yeah, Caden's Squadron. The president was with them before coming here. Helped me out a lot, actually. Seems they're just about as informed as we are, possibly more so." I was hardly listening though. For the last three days the president had been able to contact Caden at any time, and now that he was finally going to do it, he couldn't reach him. I was starting to feel a little light headed.

"Are you alright Miss?" The president asked with concern, probably noticing my change in health as I wobbled slightly and grabbed a wall for support. Mr. Irving was quickly at my side to help me stay standing while the president grabbed a chair for me to sit in.

"Can I wait here?" I asked after I had regained enough of my wit. "Until you're able to contact him- them?"

"I don't see a problem with that," the president said after thinking about it for a moment, a kind smile on his face. "Do you mind if I wait with you?"

"Not at all," I replied as I looked over at the radio that would eventually allow me communication with Caden. If only orbiting satellites moved faster.

**:|:|:|:**

"Catapult pressure at max, Blaze. You're cleared for takeoff." I grasped the handles on the inside of my cockpit as the catapult began to fling me forwards and off the ship. As soon as I was clear of the deck, I whipped my hands back down to the flight stick and rose up into the sky. We needed to get to the defecting ships as quickly as possible.

"I can't believe they would open fire on their own ships!" Grimm shouted in disbelief as I joined up with the rest of my flight. "And after hearing from their Prime Minister too!"

"This war's hatred has become so deep rooted," Kei began lowly. "It's going to take a strong and clear message to break through it."

"Alright everyone, listen up," I began as we closed in on the Yuktobanian fleet and it's defectors. "We're all going to split up. Watch what you're aiming at, I don't want any of the friendly ships taking fire from us. Try not to double up unless you have to. We're going to take out the opposing force as quickly as we can."

"Roger Blaze," Marcus replied as he began to yaw off to the right. I shot down center while Kei took left and Grimm pulled in the rear as mop up. I began to pick up on the first enemy transmissions.

"Am I seeing this right?" a confused voice sounded off. "There are only four enemy planes."

"What a joke," another voice replied with malicious laughter. "You'd better not take any damage."

"Four planes…" another voice said with awe. I was able to recognize it as coming from one of the defecting ships. "Those planes… are you the Razgriz?"

"Yeah," Kei began, a soft tone clear to hear in her voice as she addressed the friendly Yuktobanian ship. "Don't worry we'll try to cover you as best we can. Just try to join up with the Kestrel as quickly as possible."

"I knew it!" the ship replied with unhidden enthusiasm. "This is Yuktobanian destroyer, Chuda. It's an honor to fight alongside you. Kestrel! We're joining your fleet."

"You have my gratitude," Captain Anderson replied over the radio. I was finally in range to begin my engagement. Our planes had been hastily loaded with two Harpoons each along with a pair of sidewinders to go along with them. I flipped the arming switch for the Harpoons and after getting solid locks on two separate ships that were pursuing a friendly Yuktobanian destroyer, I fired. Today, I wouldn't be concerning myself with conserving ammunition. Speed would be taking precedence.

"Those fighters sunk the Granat in an instant!" one of the remaining enemy ships yelled out. "Kvant Squadron, protect the airspace above the fleet."

"An enemy squadron?" Petra asked from behind me. "But there aren't any aircraft on radar..."

"But there's a huge ship behind these guys," Larry replied. "Seems like this was just a forward deployment of a carrier battle fleet."

"Captain," Grimm began. "Swordsman and I can deal with the remaining ships here. Why don't you and Edge engage the rest of the battle fleet?"

"Solid plan, Archer," I told the younger pilot. "Changing bearing to 298 degrees to engage remaining enemy naval units. Edge, coming with?"

"Was that a necessary question?" Petra mocked over our personal channel.

"Sure thing, Blaze," Kei replied without hesitation, joining up on my wing within seconds. "Keep our new allies safe you guys," she told Snow and Grimm before we accelerated towards the remaining enemy fleet.

"Got any anti-ship missiles left?" I asked Kei as we closed in on the new group of enemies.

"One," she replied. "I'll go for the carrier first, take out its aircraft launching capabilities. You cover me while I go in, I don't think they'll be too happy about us trying to sink them."

"Got it." Without further discussion we began to close in on the Carrier. It was still protected by some ships, but it had deployed most of them far ahead. We could already see some aircraft performing a low orbit of the ship waiting for remaining planes to launch while providing some cover. This wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

"This is aircraft carrier Admiral Tsanev, we're picking up two approaching signatures. Too large and slow to be missiles. Kvant three and four, intercept and destroy."

"Copy tower, changing tasking," one of the planes replied as the two airborne craft changed headings and came towards us.

"Looks like we've got some resistance," Sylvia stated.

"I'll keep them off your six," I told Kei as we continued to rocket towards the carrier. It seemed neither of us planed on slowing for our approach.

"Copy," she replied, letting me know she was on board with my plan. I began to line up with one of the incoming planes in a game of chicken that I would shorten with bullets. As we closed in on each other, we both sent opposing lines of lead towards each other, neither of us scoring hits and breaking off at the last moment. As I broke off and turned around, I ignored the plane I had initially charged at and went after the other craft that was now changing their own course for Kei. As I cut power as far as I dared on my engines, I deployed the air brake and pulled sharply back on my stick as I turned, slamming me down in my seat and causing my flight suit to constrict like a snake around my legs and abdomen. I finished my turn before the plane that had planned on chasing Kei had even got half way through his. I retracted my brake and applied full thrust, closing the distance between our two planes within seconds. Once I was in range for an effective shot, I released another burst from my cannon, the familiar rumble coinciding with the explosion of the aircraft in front of me letting me know I had protected my wing mate yet again. Now it was time to worry about myself.

As if the though alone was enough, a missile warning came out of the blue. I quickly pulled up and got out of the spot I had been moments ago, the missile unable to keep up with the sharp maneuver and passing through the air to impact with the sea beyond. I stared straight up through my canopy to see the other aircraft coming for me. I also saw a scene beyond that made me wish I had a camera.

In the background, beyond the other Yuktobanian aircraft and myself, Kei was dodging ribbons and streams of tracer fire from the ships she was in the midst of. With the backdrop of the setting sun, the scene had its own sense of deadly beauty that almost made me forget I had a deadly pursuer on my tail. Unable to resist, I keyed my radio.

"Looking good Kei," I said as I saw the fleck that was her aircraft barrel roll around another stream of AA fire.

"Yeah?" she asked, a little winded. "How's this?" she asked as a streak of smoke suddenly broke off her aircraft and slammed right into the island of the aircraft carrier.

"Careful, ma'am," Sylvia said before I could reply. "You might distract him too much and get him shot down."

"Nah," Kei countered, again cutting me off. "He knows that I'll kill him if that happens, therefore I don't concern myself with that thought."

"Thanks, I think?" I replied as I continued to get into a firing position behind the remaining aircraft. A few moments later, Kei and I were on our way back to the Kestrel's new fleet. The ships in our battle group had enough anti-ship missiles to deal with the remaining opposing force and with no aircraft to fight against, we would be better off landing. However, just as Grimm was landing, the Kestrel's CIC began an urgent message.

"Attention! Razgriz squadron! There was an Osean fleet nearby and we requested assistance at the beginning of our engagement. They've been listening since then and are calling us traitors for joining forces with the defecting Yuke ships. They're moving into attack formation and will be upon us in a few minutes. We need you to rearm and refuel to engage the new threat while we deal with the remaining hostile Yuke force."

"The Osean fleet turned over to the enemy?!" Kei said in surprise and shock, mirroring my own feelings exactly. Throughout this whole conflict, the only opponents we had engaged were Belken and Yuktobanian forces. Sure, we had attacked the Arkbird, but that had fallen under control of the Belken's. Now we were being asked to carry out direct attacks against our own countrymen.

"What's Captain Anderson saying about this?" I asked, trying to think of a person I could trust who could give me the 'right' order. If someone like him could authorize such an action, then I could know that no other option existed.

"Blaze," began the man in a tone as somber as they came. "We don't have much else a choice. Their fleet has enough firepower to annihilate us if they get in range. We're the only ones who are in a position to end this pointless conflict. If we go down today, this war carries on until the Belken's see their plan through. I hate to reduce it to a numbers game, but right now, it's them or countless more, including innocents, when the Belken's get their way." I took a deep breath and I just knew that everyone within three nautical miles was waiting for my reply, recently acquired allied ships included.

"I understand, sir," I replied with defeat. We all refueled and rearmed as quickly as was possible, closing in on the incoming Osean fleet at soon as we could. However, before we could reach the ships, our radios suddenly crackled to life with an unexpected song that brought back a plethora of memories.

"Thoughts endless in flight,

Day turns to night,

Questions you ask your soul..."

"What… Who's playing that song?" Kei asked, the lyrics obviously having a similar effect on her.

"I think I know who, but… Look! The enemy fleet!" While I was hoping for Marcus to tell us who was playing the powerful music, I also couldn't help but be distracted by the scene in front of me.

"Sir," began one of the approaching ships. "Should we really be doing this? If we look at this another way, the Kestrel successfully captured over three Yuktobanian ships. I don't think that makes them-"

"Fool!" shouted out another ship. "You're letting them mess with your head! Are you going to join the enemy too?!" For a moment, there was a piercing silence only broken by the song in the background. Again, I knew that everyone within range was waiting for the response of this one man.

"Which way do I go?

How fast is too slow?

The journey has its time within us..."

Suddenly, one of the ships lurched away from the fleet just as we entered effective combat airspace.

"Kestrel? This is Osean destroyer Iolite. We're joining your cause."

"You have our thanks. You hear that, Blaze? Protect our allies wherever they show up." I couldn't help but smile like a madman. The song was making this difficult choice much easier by revealing who was willing to fight for peace and who was willing to fight to destroy it.

"Razgriz, disperse over the area and protect friendly assets with extreme prejudice against the enemy. Let's make a show of force that might push some more into our corner."

"Good idea, Captain," Grimm replied with a solid resolve in his voice. The rest of the flight began to break up and target individual ships while I dropped down towards our new ally, the Iolite, to engage any inbound threats.

"THIS IS MADNESS!" the man who had spoken against the Iolite yelled out. "Somebody stop this damn song!" I noticed a frigate that was starting to change bearing and aim for the ship I was currently patrolling. I quickly flipped the arming switch for my anti-ship missile and locked onto the target, firing the missile before any act of violence could come to our new ally.

"Sir," a new voice called out. "One of our frigates just took a hit and is sinking."

"Impossible," The man who I was starting to guess was the leader of the enemy Osean fleet replied. "There's only four of them and it's hardly been a minute since they engaged!"

"Blaze?" Kei asked, a little concern evident in her voice. "I just got visual on an Aegis class."

"Are you in a position to take it out?"

"This is Swordsman. Blaze, the Aegis is designed to intercept and destroy any inbound aerial target, including missiles. It's going to take a combined attack to overwhelm its defenses."

"Right," I replied, taking in the new information. "Let's deal with what we can for now to ensure safety for our allies. Then we'll focus on the Aegis ship."

"Roger," Kei replied. "Conserving anti-ship missiles for later."

"This is Archer, I've already used my missiles on other ships. Sorry captain."

"It's fine Archer. We had to deal with them anyways and I don't think our cannons would do much to them."

"This is Swordsman again. I'm down to one missile and I'm pretty sure Blaze is in a similar position. Hopefully that's going to be enough."

"Kestrel, this is blaze. Three ships remain, the Iolite, a helicopter carrier and an Aegis class ship. We're going to engage the Aegis and try to overwhelm its defenses. Will you be able to handle the carrier?"

"We'll work something out," Anderson replied after a moment. "The opposing Yuktobanian fleet is almost completely wiped out so we'll be able to focus on helping you pretty soon."

"Copy, we await your assistance."

"This is the destroyer Iolite. Kestrel, we'll begin engagement of the carrier Barbet. We wouldn't want to be freeloaders, after all."

"Captain," a distinctly Yuktobanian voice said almost immediately. "I think that Osean destroyer was talking about us."

"Kestrel, this is Yuktobanian ship Dub! We also will engage the enemy carrier! Men, let us show what a real Yuktobanian ship can do!" before the radio cut out, a massive battle cry could be heard cutting over the radio, temporally drowning out the music that even now was continuing to play.

"Looks like joint exercises started up again," Snow muttered before we all formed up for our assault on the Aegis ship.

"Okay, let's do a probe run fist to see what we're dealing with," I told my flight as we closed in on the ship. In response, Grimm and Snow flew over to the opposing side of the ship to divert the ships concentration at least a little. As soon as we got into an effective range, though, the sky was suddenly lit up with thousands of rounds of ammunition.

"Woah!" Grimm yelled from the other side of the ship that was now obstructed from my view.

"You alright?" Sylvia asked immediately, concern dripping off her words.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch," Grimm replied.

"Minor damage on our right wing," Larry clarified. "Shouldn't do anything more than give a headache to Peter." For a moment, I had to think who Larry was speaking about before I remembered Pop's real name. Or, at least, his fake/real Osean name. The man was complex for sure.

"Alright, let's brake off and get ready for the real thing," I told everyone as Kei and I returned to a safe distance. As we were making our turn around, I saw the enemy helicopter carrier being attacked simultaneously by both the Iolite and Dub.

"You're pretty good, for an Osean ship," the Yuktobanian destroyer said teasingly.

"You Yuktobanian's aren't half bad yourself," the Iolite replied.

"I knew it'd come back," Kei told me over the private channel. "I knew people would be able to return to peace as soon as they pushed the lies aside."

"Let's finish this so it comes about sooner," I replied. Without further discussion, we came back around and got bank on course for another attack run. Once we got into range, the cannon fire from the ship came back again and we found ourselves in a cloud of hot lead.

"Ready for your go," Marcus announced over the radio.

"Razgriz, launch everything you've got!" I shouted out, simultaneously launching my remaining anti-ship missile and watching as two similar streaks shot out from Kei. For a moment, the fire on our aircraft subsided as the weapons began to track the incoming missiles. But as we had predicted, the four missiles and the four aircraft were too much for the targeting systems and two of our missiles go through the barrage of bullets.

"Aegis ship is sinking," Petra informed me as Kei and I took a victory lap around the ship that was no longer spouting streams of tracers.

"Let's head back to the Kestrel," Marcus suggested. It was a suggestion we all agreed to readily.

**:|:|:|:**

"The jamming cleared up," the president suddenly said, rousing me from my task of studying me finger prints.

"Can you reach them?" I asked urgently.

"Let me try," the man said as he began to fiddle with the dial. "Kestrel? Do you copy? This is President Harling. Do you copy, Kestrel?"

"… esid… ling? Th… Captain Ande… do you… py?"

"Here, let me..." the president muttered as he continued to press and turn buttons all over the complex looking instrument panel.

"… I repeat, do you come in Mr. President?" Harling suddenly got a large smile on his face at the sound of the other man's voice.

"Come on now, Anderson. You know I don't like it when people call me that."

"Yeah," the man replied with a somewhat relieved sigh. "It's you alright."

"What was going on a moment ago? We couldn't contact you and were just about to try satellite communications before you started coming in."

"We were suddenly engaged by a Yuktobanian fleet but… Vincent, you wouldn't believe it." The president looked genuinely surprised so I held off on my request to speak with Caden just a bit longer.

"Well, tell me what happened, you know how I hate being in the dark!"

"We had Nikanor on board. Turns out that Bartlett had escaped from the Yuktobanian's before they could even set up a POW camp for him. Through his many contacts, he was able to eventually get in touch with the Prime Minister. Turns out, he was in the same position as you, ousted by generals and other political figures."

"You mean you've got Nikanor there with you? Well, let me speak with him! Maybe we can-"

"He's left for the capital. Even though we had him try to dissuade the Yuktobanian fleet, the majority of them still attacked. About four of their ships ended up joining us and with the cover Caden and the rest of the flight provided."

"Caden?" I asked, unable to hold myself back.

"Who was that?" the man calling himself Anderson asked.

"That was a young woman named Whitney," the President replied. "Go on, introduce yourself," the man prompted me.

"Uh, hello Captain Anderson," I called out to the receiver. "Sorry about not introducing myself earlier, I'm Whitney Elsworth. I'm a… A very close friend to Caden."

"Is that so..." the Captain said in a strange voice. But before I could ask about it, there was a sudden commotion on the other end of the communication.

"Sir! There's an unknown airborne signature inbound!"

"Dammit! Do we still have the Razgriz in the air?"

"Only Blaze hasn't landed yet sir."

"Can we launch anyone else?"

"The catapult systems took minor damage during the engagement with the Yuke fleet. If we launch any aircraft right now, we risk breaking it permanently." There was a tense silence I dare not break as the Captain seemed to be thinking a million miles per minute.

"Relay targeting information to all friendly ships. We'll have to give him as much help as we can without his flight to back him up."

"Understood sir!" the other voice shouted before a closing door was heard.

"Captain Nagase's going to kill me for not letting her back up," the man muttered, causing the color to drain from my face. Before I could recover the man spoke up again. "I'm sorry Harling, but I hope you'll understand why I won't be able to carry this conversation on at the moment."

"No worries. Make sure he makes it out alive, Anderson. That's an order."

"Don't worry, Vincent. You're not the only one who'll have my head if he doesn't make it back unscathed." With that, the radio fizzled out and I was left with more fear and trepidation than I had started with.

**:|:|:|:**

"What's that interference coming from?" Petra asked as static began to build up in our headsets. She wouldn't know, but for me, a cold sweat broke out and my heart began racing faster than it had all day. This one plane would be cause enough for me to worry about death. Just as the static was about to become overwhelming, it stopped to bring a dead silence.

"Well, well, well," a new Belken accent began. "I did not think this would be the outcome today. But when your flight is involved, who can predict anything?"

"Blaze, who is this guy?" Petra began, a clearly audible nervousness in her voice that I just knew our opponent would pick up on.

"What's this?" the man began. "Another surprise? You seem to be full of them today. From Phaser's report back in November city, you flew without CSO's. I'll have to make note of this. As for your question, I am your end, and that is all you shall know me as."

The only thing that gave away the plane before it shot me full of lead was the slight dimming of the sunlight as it passed between me and the celestial body. I jinked up on reflex and barely avoided cannon rounds that were no doubt aimed for my cockpit.

"These surprises you posses are starting to become more irritating," the man began as I tried to become as unpredictable as I could, having no mercy on pulling the plane every which way in the sky. I had the briefest of thoughts about what Pop's would say about my airframe but at the moment, I figured he'd forgive my abuse of the craft.

"Pixy," I began, not wanting to use any names with the Belken around. "Can you get a visual on this guy?"

"I'm trying, but it's a little difficult when you're changing directions so suddenly."

"Well, it's that or be shot down. Look harder." I heard a grunt of frustration before a temporary silence.

"Shit..." Petra whispered so lowly, I almost thought I imagined hearing her.

"What? What is it?"

"You're from Usea, right?"

"What's that…?"

"You know about Scarface Squadron? What their signature aircraft was?" I thought for a moment. Then I paled.

"The XFA-27," I replied chilled to the bone.

"Ah, so you two know a little history?" the Belken taunted. "Being in bed with an aircraft manufacturer is so much fun. So many toys to pick and choose from. I'll never understand why the man you knew as Hamilton chose that decrepit MiG 1.44, but his loss, I guess. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get this assignment over with so if you could hold still..." Suddenly, a plume of smoke erupted from behind us but there was no missile warning or alert going off in my canopy. For that instant, I missed my bitching Betty. So I found a new one.

"Pixy, keep an eye on my tail and tell me when I've lost the missile."

"Got it," she replied almost instantly, as if she had already been performing the task. I continued to swirl around the air, pushing the thrust vectoring and high alpha maneuvering of the HARV to the limits, nearly stalling in several occasions. The fighter that was pursuing us must've come loaded with no other objective in mind than shooting me down because even after five successful evasions, the plane was still coming hard.

"I think he's out of missiles," Petra began wearily.

"What makes you say that?" I asked as the sixth missile finally flew past us.

"Cause he's closing in," she replied quickly.

"Finally," I breathed, trying to think of a way I could possibly get behind the super plane. That was when I remembered Anderson's final attempt at communication. It was choppy, but it had sounded like he was saying to stay close to the carrier. "Pixy, how close are we to the battle fleet?"

"Well, our radar's no good right now but if my sense of distance is still good and the sun still sets in the west, then maybe four to six miles north of them."

"I hope you'll be able to forgive me, but we're going to be flying low and fast for a while."

"If it gets this guy off our tail, you have my permission to turn this plane into a submarine."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," I replied under my breath as I began to head towards where Petra had said the fleet was. Hopefully they would be ready for what I was bringing back.

It was strange to be right above allies and not hear any radio transmissions, but the reception was still friendly. As soon as I brought my pursuer in range, the sky began to light up behind me with cannon fire from nearly every ship that surrounded the Kestrel. I had a smug smile as I heard occasional profanities from the Belken behind us. Then I heard the victory horn. Well actually, it was more a sudden burst of radio traffic.

-et him? Was that the right one?"

"I don't know I still can't… wait, no, radio's back up! Blaze!? Razgriz one?! Do you copy?"

"This is Razgriz one call-sign Blaze. I copy. Thanks for clearing my six."

"Хорошо! В вашем лице Iolite! I told you we'd get them first!" A Yuktobanian suddenly exclaimed with boy-like excitement.

"First of all, none of us understood a word of what you just said. Second, that was totally our kill."

"This is Osean destroyer Cormorant. Sorry to break it to you Iolite, but from hear it looked like the Yuke's swooped that one up."

"Good to see we've been making friends," Petra sighed, bringing me to a more relaxed state as well. I couldn't wait to sleep in tomorrow.


	45. -Redrawing the Battle Lines-

**Redrawing the Battle Lines**

There are a few ways that I like to be woken up. There are many more that I don't like. Soft breathing gently pulling me from drowsiness falls into the first category. Especially since the soft breathing was coming from a head that had nuzzled its way into the crook of my neck. I didn't want to end the sublime moment, but at the same time, the longer I allowed Kei's breathing to tickle my skin, the harder it was for me to keep myself from shivering from the sensation. Just as I was about to lose my resolve, Kei's eyes fluttered open. As soon as she saw me alert and awake... and watching her... she seemed to become self conscious, almost immediately straightening up and wiping her mouth to not-as-subtlety-as-she-thought check for drool. I decided to let her know I saw through her deception.

"Smooth," I uttered, failing to keep the amused smile from creeping to my lips. She paused in the middle of her lengthy stretch routine and squinted one of her eyes open to peek at me. The next instant she collapsed in a laughing heap on top of me, encouraging me to join her in making the music of laughter. After a good thirty seconds, we finally calmed ourselves down to the point where we could actually speak again.

"Morning," she finally greeted with a large smile, shifting only her head to gaze up at me from its spot upon my chest.

"Morning," I replied with a similarly large grin.

"Well," Kei began after a few moments of us just looking at each other. "I guess it's out now. Occasionally, I leave drool on my pillow. And it seems you're starting to become my pillow." I sucked in my breath suddenly as if someone had just told me some really bad news.

"I don't know, Nagase," I began in a fake concerned voice. "I don't think I can be with someone like that." Playing along, Kei raised herself up from my chest and acted as if she was totally and utterly shocked and hurt. Then she got this nonchalant air about her.

"Well it's too late," she said haughtily, brandishing her hand out to proudly display her ring. "You've gone and put a ring on it." I pulled my arm out from under the sheets and snapped my fingers in the classic 'darn it' gesture.

"Damn contracts," I muttered loud enough for Kei to hear. She just smiled and let her head fall back down to my chest, letting out a large, contented breath.

"I love you," she said after a few drawn out moments.

"I love you too," I replied, finding it very hard to keep from gazing at her tranquil face. "Come on," I prodded after a couple more moments. "We should get some food."

"Ah yes," Kei said, lifting herself up. "Every man's second love."

"Second love?" I asked playfully, earning a hard punch in the arm. "Oh good, I was starting to think those were a thing of the past," I said monotonously, earning yet another bruise.

**:|:|:|:**

How long would this keep up? How many more times were Caden and I destined to pass each other before finally becoming reunited? After the hasty goodbye we had received from Captain Anderson, the president eventually convinced me to get some sleep, telling me that I would be disappointed in myself if my first conversation with Caden in just about a year was with me half asleep. My half asleep brain agreed with the logic and shut down. When I woke up the next day, I startled myself awake by glancing at the clock on my phone. It was already ten in the morning! I quickly changed into some clothes and began searching for Mr. Irving. I was staying with the Irving's in a hotel that was right next to a raised highway just a few minutes away from Bright Hill, with Mr. and Mrs. Irving's room right across the hall from me. I jumped into the hallway and pounded on the door to their room. After a couple of seconds, Elizabeth's face popped up in front of me with a concerned expression.

"Whitney? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I began, suddenly realizing I was acting bit… strange. Mrs. Irving just raised an eyebrow at me before I continued. "Do you know where your husband is? I need him to get me back in contact with the president so we can try and reach Caden again."

"Andrew's already left to go see Vincent dear. He knocked on your door this morning but when you didn't answer, he figured you could use the sleep and went to go meet with Harling on his own." I felt like pulling out my hair. Catching my despairing attitude, Elizabeth quickly spoke up again. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get the chance to speak with him soon." I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer.

"I'm afraid I'll lose him," I cried out. Mrs. Irving stood there for a moment and seemed to realize that this conversation had just taken a turn for not-in-the-hall.

"Come on in," she said, opening the door fully and reaching behind to my back to guide me in. She sat me down at a table and then walked into the kitchenette the hotel room had and began to make some tea for me. That was the one thing about the Irving's that could tip someone off about them not being native Osean's, they were always making tea. Once she had gotten the tea started, Elizabeth came back to the table she had sat me down at.

"I'm afraid I'll lose him," I repeated after a couple of seconds.

"What do you mean?" the woman across from me asked, putting her hands on top my own to try and make me feel more comfortable.

"I… I love him," I admitted to the woman, but for her part, Elizabeth hardly seemed surprised.

"Seems you've figured that part out," she said with a small smile as she got up to tend to the hot water.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. I wasn't sure how I should be handling this all. I had come here to lay out my problems and Mrs. Irving was acting like they were nothing.

"Honey," she began, as she fished out some tea packets from her luggage, "I've known for quite some time about your feelings towards my son. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever realize them yourself." I once again didn't know what to do and my voice floundered three times before I finally got some traction.

"How long?" I began before changing my mind on how to phrase my question. "I mean… When did you… When did I… When did it start? Or when did you think it started?" Mrs. Irving came over with two cups of tea and set one in front of me.

"Honestly," the woman began before taking a sip of her tea, "I'm pretty sure he had a crush on you the first time you two met. But the fact you had a boyfriend complicated things for him so he ignored and suppressed whatever was there." I grimaced at the thought of Charles. Even now he seemed to be screwing things up for me. "I think he got so good at ignoring those feelings that he eventually became blind to them. And you," she emphasized, pointing at me with her hands still wrapped around her cup. "Because you never saw or felt anything coming from him, assumed he just wanted to be friends." Was this woman a psychiatrist or something?

"Drink your tea, it'll get cold." I promptly followed the woman's advice as it seemed she had a good, logical brain in her head. She watched me take a couple sips of the surprisingly pleasant tea. "What made you see the possibility of more?" she finally asked after a stretch of silence. I thought for a moment.

"It wasn't a singular moment, necessarily," I began. "I think I realized there was a possibility… um..." I began to stop myself as I realized what I had just about said.

"What?" Elizabeth asked, a slight desperation of wanting to know in her voice.

"After you died," I finished somewhat bluntly.

"Oh." The woman took another sip of her beverage. "Well at least my death was good for something," she finished flippantly, bring a much needed reprieve of humor.

"I had wanted to see if there was a possibility for something between us for a while," I began after a moment. "But I wasn't sure how to do that without ruining our friendship. Somehow, I think there was a book about a tree involved, but somehow, I got him to agree to take me to a dance. That was the test. And he passed it. With flying colors. Unfortunately, I was never able to get past that dance." I took another sip of tea to do something while Elizabeth thought things over. The woman suddenly put her cup down.

"So what makes you afraid that you'll lose him? Do you think he's going to die?"

"No," I replied quickly. "I think don't think he'll die. But..." I thought about all the things that were making me anxious. "I think there's another woman."

"You say 'other woman' like she's some kind of harlot," Mrs. Irving said with a smile. Then her face got a little more serious. "I know this is going to be a hard question for you, but I want you to think about it and answer it truthfully." I braced myself for whatever was coming. "Could someone else fall in love with him?" If this were a baseball game, that ball just came from the crowd behind me. But as I began to think about it, the more troubled I became. Could there be the possibility of someone loving Caden just as much as me? More than me? No, it was impossible for anyone to… was it?

"Good," Mrs. Irving said interrupting my thoughts. "You're really thinking about it. Now, here are a couple more. Do you know how often people come out of comas with full function? How many stay under for as long as you do and suddenly wake up like nothing happened?" I had no clue and just shook my head. "Let's just say your case is something of a miracle. But let's just imagine for a moment that it wasn't. Nearly every medical professional told Caden you'd probably never wake up and if you did, you'd probably be a vegetable for the rest of your life. What would you want Caden to do?"

But Caden would know I'd wake up! He wouldn't give up hope! … But what if... I never woke up? What if he just waited his entire life, giving up the chance of loving someone who could love him just as much as me? But he would know!… Right?

"Don't give up, Whitney." Elizabeth finally said after a couple of minutes, placing her hand on mine again. "But at the same time, be ready for anything. If you love him like I think you do, it won't matter who he's with in the end so long as you know he's happy." I nodded numbly. She was right, of course. I was glad I had finally shared with someone, and that someone had prepared me for any possible outcome and not just talked me up. But I knew I'd be much happier if Caden choose to be happy with me.

**:|:|:|:**

It was silent as Kei and I ate our food, even though there were three other people with us. Every once in a while, I would catch either Sylvia or Petra eyeing Kei's hand as covertly as they could before whipping their eye's back to their food. Grimm for his part was diligently trying to ignore what everyone knew was happening, occasionally murmuring with satisfaction from his meal. I was nearly done with my meal when Kei's and my eyes met. I quickly darted my eyes over the two women on either side of her, and in response, she tiredly rolled her eyes, letting me know she had in fact noticed their stares.

"Would you like to look at it?" she finally asked in a somewhat annoyed but all the same friendly voice.

"Yes," Petra said almost immediately as if a dam had broken.

"Could I?" Sylvia said at the same exact time, a great amount of hope discernible in her eyes. Despite herself, Kei smiled a little at the antics of the other two women and brought her hand up so both of them could ogle her new ring.

"It's so pretty," Petra commented, taking Kei's hand and bringing it up to her face. "It's like, perfect for you!" Sylvia looked over at the ring, clearly forgetting about Kei in the process as she practically climbed over her to try and see the ring better.

"You're so lucky," She commented as she too took hold of Kei's hand to better examine the accessory.

"There you guys- whoa," Larry began as he walked into the mess hall to find Kei being used as a jungle gym. Finally realizing what they were doing, both Petra and Sylvia returned to their normal positions, both women quickly dropping Kei's hand and placing their own in their lap. "Anyways," Larry began again, eying the two women suspiciously, "Pop's says they've finally managed to break the encryption on that disk the Major's brought us. Wants us all in the briefing room yesterday."

"Let's go then," Grimm said rather quickly, picking up the tray with his remaining food and bringing it to the trash, the rest of us following suit.

"Ah, good, you're all here now," Pop's said as our group entered the room that already had Snow waiting in one of the seats. Once we all sat down, Pop's jumped right into it. "We've decoded the disc that the Major brought back with her. It contained blueprints for a mass retaliation weapon, codenamed V2. A far more powerful weapon than the tactical nukes that the Belken's used in the last war. It was never fully developed at the time, but it appears that they have secretly completed its construction in the fifteen years since the war. The V2 is a MIRV missile, meaning Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicle. Just one warhead can wipe out half of all the large cities in either Osea or Yuktobania. So, where was it deployed?" the man asked rhetorically. "It had to be in the SOLG, which was also secretly completed and is now operational. After all, it was built to function as an orbital platform for such weapons in the first place."

The Ulysses. Even after all these years after it made planet fall, it was still causing conflict and problems. How many weapon systems had been justified because of that asteroid?

"The SOLG itself is unmanned and controlled from the ground, but we didn't know where from," Pop's continued. "However, that was before the intelligence vessel Andromeda tracked down the origin of 'Schenze's' transmissions to the Arkbird. It's in former South Belka, the state entrusted to Osean rule and now called North Osea. To be more precise, the transmissions originated from an experimental facility owned by none other than Gründer industries, a manufacturer of the weapons we all seem to be using. The president of Gründer has sworn allegiance to Osea, but in truth, is a secret member of the 'Gray Men.' Under the guise of their experimental facility, they are actually making a gigantic tunnel under the mountain range that runs along the border dividing North and South Belka. Their ultimate goal is to reunite the two Belka's. And in that tunnel-" Suddenly the whole room shook and the lights flickered for a moment before blaring alarms went off.

"The Kestrel just took a missile hit!" a voice cried over the radio. "Enemy unknown. We can't identify it at this time. Additional missiles are approaching! Razgriz, you've been asked to launch immediately and escape the area!" We all jumped up from our seats and began running for the hangars. Once we were there, the sound of our plane's engines greeted us.

"We've started them up already to cut down on time! Now hurry!" someone yelled as we each ran towards our storage lockers to get out our necessities before climbing into our planes. Petra and I anxiously waited as Grimm and Snow were loaded onto the aircraft elevator as quickly as possible. Soon after, Kei and I were loaded on and on the flight deck, just in time to see Grimm make it up into the air and join Snow. Kei was rolled into place next, but as that was happening, I noticed a white streak skimming just above the water and making its way towards us. A low rumble began as two turrets on the starboard side of the ship began to fire streams of bullets at the incoming missile. However, it was all in vain as the missile struck the side of the ship, a giant plume of thick black smoke erupting as the barriers were raised for Kei's exhaust. Finally, she was cleared to launch and I began to move into place for what would be the Kestrel's final aircraft launch.

"The ship is listing pretty hard to the right," Petra said as we were locked into the catapult.

"This is Captain Anderson, all crews not dealing with aircraft launch, abandon ship. As soon as Blaze launches, I want everyone in the water."

"Let's not dawdle then," I muttered as I pushed my throttle to the max setting. Within the moment, I was accelerated off the end of the ship and pulled up sharply, joining the rest of my squadron as we watched in silence as the water around the Kestrel began to fill with rubber life boats. We didn't know quite what to do in that moment. Our base of operations was gone and last we had checked, most of Osea still thought us traitors.

"Razgriz squadron, do you copy?"

"This is Razgriz one, we copy," I replied.

"Good, you all made it. This is the intelligence vessel Andromeda. We've located the source of the attacks. Seems the fleet yesterday had a submarine element that waited until now to attack, taking us completely by surprise. We've dispatched a destroyer after it, but would like to ask for you to hold above the area as long as your fuel allows to provide air cover should we need it."

"Roger, we'll hold here as long as possible. But where should we go after that?" I asked, still wanting to know what the plan was. Only moments ago, it seemed like we were finally ahead of the game and getting ready to strike the Gray Men where it counted.

"We're still getting information, but it seems like the president's been able to take control of the country again. We're attempting to reach him and secure you a new base of operations."

"Razgriz one copies all and will await further instruction." Without another word passing between us, we all began to orbit the fleet below, watching as the Kestrel began to sink into the sea.

**:|:|:|:**

Mrs. Irving and I decided to just lounge around for the day. It felt amazing to finally relax after all the crazy stuff I had been through since I had left the hospital. My relaxation would soon be interrupted, however, with the arrival of Mr. Irving.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked as soon as she saw her husband. I glanced up at the man as well, glad for the distraction from the overly dramatic drama we had been watching. This stuff could melt your mind if you weren't careful.

"They got the Kestrel," Mr. Irving said simply as he rested on the counter in the kitchenette. My heart rate suddenly got sporadic.

"Wasn't that the ship that-" I tried asking before Andrew interrupted again.

"Yes. Don't worry though, they got them up before the ship went under. The president's working on finding a base he can send them to so they can prepare for the mission tonight."

"Mission tonight?" I asked, unsure of what he was talking about.

"Nikanor is on his way to Bright hill as well. He'll arrive sometime around ten this evening. At that time, him and the president will form an official coalition between themselves against Belka. I just hope there are enough level headed people in each military to listen to them. They're going to ask the military units that'll listen to strike the HQ of the people who've started this conflict to put an end to all this."

"So the war will be over by tomorrow?" I asked with hope. An end to conflict meant a quicker reunion with Caden.

"That's the hope," Mr. Irving replied. The rest of the day was spent waiting for the press release Mr. Irving has told us about. We preemptively changed the television channel to the appropriate station and waited around, biding our time until the characteristic tone began to play letting us know a presidential address was about to air.

"This is President Harling of the Osean Federation," the voice that had become familiar to me began. "Attention, all Osean and Yuktobanian officers and soldiers currently on the battlefield. Let us put down our guns and come out of the trenches. The Osean capital of Oured has been freed of the people who took advantage of my absence to usurp control of the country." The president paused for a moment to take a collecting breath. "Once robbed of my freedom and of my ability to do the right thing, I now stand once again under the light of the golden sun, and I do so with the honorable Yuktobanian Prime Minister Nikanor by my side." He quickly gestured to his side and the camera that was capturing the footage zoomed out and panned to the left to show another man. "We have resolved our terrible and unfortunate misunderstandings, and the war is now over." At this, the other man began to walk towards the president to get behind the podium.

"This is Prime Minister Nikanor, head of government for the Union of Yuktobanian Republics," the man said with an undeniable air of authority. "Attention, all officers and soldiers of Osea and Yuktobania currently on the battlefield. Please watch as President Harling and I stand shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. President Harling's words are true. The war is over, but there is one more battle that still needs to be fought." The scene was moving and probably very surprising to people who had thought that this war had been started by the two people who were now looking like high school chums.

"We believe that those who have tried to stir hatred between us are now preparing a weapon that could wipe out half of all metropolitan areas in either one of our countries," president Harling continued, causing a trace of fear to enter my mind. Who would do such a hateful thing? "Our comrades are in flight as I speak, determined to stop this plan dead in its tracks."

"He's talking about Caden, right?" I asked Mr. Irving quickly. The man just nodded his head as the president began to speak again.

"Which country is under the threat of mass destruction? That, we do not know." Nikanor then began to talk again.

"However, that is no longer important. No matter which country is hit, it would be a severe blow to all of us." Harling nodded sagely in agreement as he once again spoke up.

"So, now I ask you, members of the military. If you see it in your hearts, please utilize the resources available to you and help out our brave pilots. Right now they are flying east to meet the enemy."

"To those who still dare to hide behind the power of their hateful weapons," Nikanor began once more, "Bring yourself before the light of peace and harmony." There was temporary pause before a thunderous applause broke out in the press room the two heads of government were in.

"Now we wait," Mr. Irving said as he closed his eyes.

"They're going to be alright, aren't they?" I asked, concerned with how worried Andrew was acting.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it," the man began, causing my hopes to plummet. "Gründer is going to do everything they can to stop them. And they're a weapons manufacturer. Caden's going to be in for the fight of his life tonight." The room became silent as we all sat with our morbid thoughts.

**:|:|:|:**

We had taken off from a small airport that the president had reserved for us at 2100 hours and were on our way towards Sudentor to begin what would hopefully be our final sortie in this war. We were just entering the hazy yellow air space of the city when four signatures showed up behind us.

"Those are Yuke fighters," Grimm said, getting us ready for our first engagement of the night.

"Wait," Petra said before any of us could break off. "That's strange, they aren't accelerating to meet us."

"This is Yuktobanian 703rd Squadron. We heard the president's speech. We will fight with you," the group of planes called out. It was strange to be directly addressed by anyone other than Pop's and for a second I didn't know what to do.

"Thank you for your support," Kei said for me.

"This is the Osean 186th, we're going with you too," another voice said, quickly accompanied by another group of dots forming up on our rear on our radars.

"So are we," another squadron said as yet another came on my search screen. I couldn't believe what was happening. Already there were three more squadrons fighting with us.

"This is the Osean First Fighter Wing. I just knocked out the Brigade Commander. We'd also like to help," a voice called out, somewhat muffled by the thumping of what sounded like helicopter blades.

"This is the Yuktobanian 172nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron. We'll be joining you as well, Razgriz. We even brought an AWACS with us."

"This is AWACS Oka Nieba. That would mean "Sky Eye" in your language. We got a message from your boss. I'll patch it in."

"Kid?" Pop's asked as the AWACS set up a communication link.

"Pop's?" I asked in bewilderment. "What's up with all of this?"

"The president and prime minister sent out a broadcast to try and rally support for tonight's mission."

"I dare say that it worked," I muttered as I glanced at my search screen and saw the largest amount of friendly signatures I had seen in my short career.

"We've got the finally details for the mission," Pop's continued, getting to the point as we were almost to the mission area. "The SOLG just docked with the last cargo shipment from the occupied mass driver. It may be fully operational soon. The Andromeda has tracked down its transmission link. It's still coming from Schenze. I'll be briefing you so pay attention. Sky Eye?" Pop's asked the AWACS plane.

"Yes?" the man replied with his thick accent.

"Put me on so everyone can hear."

"You got it boss man." There were a few seconds that passed by before Pop's began to speak again.

"Alright, everyone listen up. We're going to attack the SOLG control system located in the giant tunnel under the Waldreich Mountains. The entrance is at the edge of the city in the industrial sector and can only be accessed by bridges that are no doubt guarded by the Gray Men's soldiers. Your job as the air support is to suppress enemy ground forces keeping us from gaining control of the tunnel entrance and maintain air supremacy. Gründer Industries has detected your approach and they're asking for help from the warmongers still left in both Osea and Yuktobania. Said they'd hand over the third V1 tactical nuke in exchange. They're hiding the more powerful V2 from them. Win this so we can finish this war. That is all." As soon as Pop's voice finished its last sentence, the radio went wild with hoots and cheers.

"We've got to win this battle and bring back peace," Kei said to me over a secure channel.

"For peace," I echoed.

"This is Sky Eye, enemy units have been identified. All aircraft are free to engage." Our radars began filling up with ground targets, with tanks and gun towers littering the wharf area of Sudentor. All at once, our giant formation dropped down on them and began to engage the true enemy. I quickly noticed that there were heavily fortified anti-air installations scattered throughout the area with multi-directional turrets and SAM sites.

"Razgriz, we're going to focus on those gun towers and respond to any requests made of us until further instruction, okay?"

"Sounds good Capitan," Grimm replied as he split off with Snow to engage targets to the west as Kei and I continued to head east. As we dodged and took out installations with our cannon, I couldn't help but smile a little at all the side conversations taking place between everyone participating in the battle.

"Razgriz..." someone spoke out while Kei and I handled another tower that was shooting at some allies engaging a tank battalion a ways off. "The legend's come true."

"Hey," a Yuktobanian sounding pilot asked. "You're Osean, right? Is it true that the Razgriz are really the guys from Sand Island?"

"That's what I heard too," another pilot added in.

"'The demon returns as a great hero…'" Snow quoted. "Huh, maybe it's not a fairy tale after all."

"Capitan, this is Archer. Swordsman and I have cleared up the towers in the west."

"Good job you two," Kei replied. "We've just finished here as well." Suddenly, there was a bright flash across the mountains followed a few seconds later by an incredible boom.

"Air attack! It's not from a plane!" a ground soldier yelled out.

"The SOLG is attacking," Sky Eye informed us just as another bright flash occurred.

"That satellite?" the same man asked incredulously.

"We need to hurry and open those doors!" a Yuktobanian pilot exclaimed as another round struck the mountains.

"This is the 1st Airborne Battalion. We're moving in on the control facility. We'll have control in just a few moments." Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but for some reason, that was what was bugging me.

"Kei," I began, speaking to the woman over our encrypted channel. "Does something feel..."

"Off," she finished, confirming that she too felt strange. "Yeah. It's been too easy."

"Okay, landing stations!" the Osean Helicopter squadron yelled out. "We'll take the facility from the roof." After a few tense moments, the helicopter unit spoke up again with victory. "We've captured the control facility and are preparing to open the gates." And that was when my fears became validated. A bright crimson beam shot out from some hazy point in the distance, its piercing intensity flashing through the sky for only a few moments. But when those few moments were up, there was chaos that followed.

"This is Viper 1! I've been hit! Bailing out!"

"Zenit 1, I've taken damage as well and can't maintain altitude!"

"We've just lost four friendly units," Sky Eye announced with alarm as the atmosphere changed from camaraderie to fear. But I had another emotion that was fighting to be known. Rage.

"That light," Kei said, thinking the same thing I was.

"That was the same thing that got Chopper," Grimm finished for us both.

"Herr Irving," the same cold voice I had heard that day began. "It seems we meet again."


	46. -Full Disclosure-

**Full Disclosure**

My blood chilled in the veins of my body almost instantly. My initial reaction was shock, allied planes had just been shot down in an instant. And that's when it hit me, allied planes had just been shot down in an instant. Fear struck me like a sledge hammer. There was a tense silence as everyone became aware of the new threatening presence in the air. The cheers of camaraderie ceased, the friendly introductions came to a halt and the blazing progress we had been making lurched to a standstill. But as soon as the icy voice sounded again, the only emotion that would let itself through my wall of disbelief was rage in its purest form.

"I must say," the arrogant pilot began, a high and mighty tone in her sneering voice that was only feeding the feral beast that was just below my silent surface. "I didn't expect such… inferior combatants to figure out what was going on. But then again, only one member of your flight is a true Osean. Still, as impressive of a feat as overcoming that intellectual hurdle may be for simpletons such as yourselves, your existence is a nuisance to the New Belken Order. Consider it an honor to be put down by someone of my caliber."

"There's _nothing_ honorable about this!" Grimm shouted back at the woman after a short and pregnant silence, renewing my awareness of other people.

"That is rich coming from you, Blutsverräter," the woman said with enough venom to kill a whale. "When the New Belka rises up from the ashes of Osea and Yuktobania, we shall purge your family name from history. All of you will be purged from history!" Just when I thought I would explode from high blood pressure, a distantly familiar voice came across the channel that put a temporary stop to my building anger.

"I don't know about everyone else, but I've had enough of this toxic elitist attitude to last a lifetime."

"Was that-?" Kei began, but before she could complete her sentence, the voice came out again.

"Major Manuel 'Axe' Yuzta, leader of Mattock squadron. Razgriz, requesting permission to help out."

"Permission granted," I replied with a growing smirk. "I'll never turn down an offer for help."

"In that case," another vaguely familiar voice began, "Captain Rigel 'Rudolph' Garrison, leader of Reindeer squadron, requesting permission to join in on the attack." However, I couldn't even respond as multiple names, ranks, call-signs, and squadrons began requesting to join in on the attack of the yet unknown enemy. For a moment, the rage in me was replaced by wonder and pride.

"In the past, I fought to rid the world of boarders," Larry said solemnly over the radio. "But people weren't ready for that. Seeing this now…" The former pilot didn't need to say anything else.

"You fools," the pilot said with a clear aloofness that was forced to cover a hint of fear. "You are more emotional than a pubescent teen. I cannot continue to allow pilot's of such low standing to remain in the sky." With that, the burning fire of anger that had temporally been hidden reemerged with a vengeance.

"All flights," I began in a malice that caught even me off guard. "The capabilities of the enemy fighter are unknown and likely beyond those of your own craft. With that said, all pilots willing to, engage with extreme prejudice."

"FOR CHOPPER," a lone voice cried out. If I was remembering correctly, it was one of the members of Reindeer squadron judging by the accent. The shouted words almost served as a battle cry as similar statements began to ring out, various call-signs being yelled out by other pilots with the same desperate determination behind them, suggesting that most of the names being shouted were those of fallen friends. As I shot towards where the bright beam had originated, I glanced around and noticed the sky was pin-pricked with after-burning engines all shooting towards the same area of sky. The display was profound and moving, causing me to reflect for just a second about how unified people can be.

"Faint radar signature detected," Petra said, interrupting me from my musings. "The plane's got a reduced radar signature. Wait..."

"What is it?" I asked with concern as Petra remained silent a few more moments.

"No, this can't be… That's just… The bitch isn't playing fair at all."

"What's going on?" I reiterated with a little more urgency as we were still hurtling towards the last known location of the enemy.

"Multiple radar signatures, all of them faint," Petra replied with a hint of worry overcoming her professional delivery.

"What was that?" one of the pilots in the joint attack with us asked.

"I saw it too, looked like a shadow."

"That was the hostile plane!" yet another person added. "It's practically invisible with how dark it's colored!"

"Everyone, stay sharp and look out for each other! Some of their planes can lock on without warning," I warned, remembering the F-23's we had engaged while rescuing the president. For a few tense moments, we were all on pins and needles, scanning the sky for any trace of movement that didn't come from a friendly plane.

"There!" Snow cried out at last, breaking the silence. "Grid D-4 on search!" I snapped my head to the place Snow had described and was fast enough to see a moving speck that stood out just enough against the dark gray-orange clouds.

"Break and engage!" I shouted, the cluster of friendly planes quickly dispersing to try and subdue the enemy fighter. I had been trying to find a glint or reflection of light from the plane's cockpit but the object I was currently focusing on was just a dark mass darting into and out of cloud cover.

"What kind of plane is that?" one pilot asked with an odd mix of fear and wonderment.

"Look out! They're coming back aro-" the transmission roughly stopped and coincided with a bright flash behind the cloud cover. I heard a growl from behind me as Petra began to experience some of the anger I was trying to deal with. For the next few seconds, one of the planes in our cobbled formation would briefly see the plane just long enough to send a transmission that always ended prematurely.

"This isn't working," Kei told me after a third plane went down.

"Really?!" I said out of frustration, immediately regretting my outburst. Before I could say anything about it though, Yuzta spoke up.

"Blaze, I think we need to try and attack all at once. She's no match if we try and take her on one on one." I hesitated in my response, undecided if I should first try and apologize to Kei or respond to the leader of Mattock. Yet another exploding plane decided for me.

"Solid plan Axe," I replied quickly. "How do we execute?"

"How good is your close formation flying?" the man retorted.

"Outstanding," Kei replied for me. I knew in that small moment that Kei wasn't as upset as she could be, but I still knew I'd have to talk to her later.

"Good," the man responded. "All remaining squadron's, form up together and attack the target on my signal." after a brief pause to allow planes to form up, Yuzta began a countdown. "Three, two, one, mark!" there were three groups of planes headed towards the last explosion including my own squadron. We were all on edge and I felt a sense of dread starting to overwhelm my waning anger.

"Target sighted," a familiar Sapinese accent reported. "High and to the right." I scanned the sky where Dancer had indicated and briefly saw a flash of movement.

"Caden, did you-" Petra began before I interrupted.

"Yeah," I simply said as I began to throttle towards the troublesome enigma. "Razgriz, stick close and follow me until you get visual yourselves."

"Roger," came a chorus of voices.

"Come on Mattock," Yuzta spurred his own flight. "Follow Razgriz and provide covering fire."

"We'll serve as interference," Garrison, leader of Rudolph added. Knowing I was at least slightly covered in this blind chase gave me a little confidence as I continued to chase down the dark, elusive plane.

"Radar signatures are decreasing," Sky Eye, our AWACS announced with slight confusion.

"I'm eliminating as many ghost signatures as I can," Petra informed the operator through focused words. "I'll try to get it down to one, but my pilot sure likes to move around a lot." I smirked a little as I continued to jerk my plane around as I lost and regained sight of the plane as it darted in and out of clouds.

"This is Swordsman, I've got visual as well," Marcus announced. He pulled his plane out front with me so he could get a better visual as well.

"There! I see it! Moving forward," Grimm announced as he too joined me and Marcus. Just when I thought things were going good, the plane darted in to a large thunder cloud, completely obscuring it from our sight.

"We lost visual," I announced moodily as we broke off, not wanting to enter the cloud where we would be easy prey for the advanced plane.

"I've reduced the number of signals down to five planes," Petra informed us as we circled around, trying to find the plane again.

"Let's pair off and go after them," Wickers, one of the female pilots from Mattock suggested.

"What do you think, Blaze?" Yuzta asked me as I continued to orbit the airspace.

"Let's do it," I replied. "Call for assistance as soon as you encounter her," I added as Kei formed up on my wing without any prompting. "We'll take the signature furthest to the north." Without sticking around to hear who was going where, Kei and I made haste towards the faint signature. There was nothing but tense silence as we sped towards the dot on radar, the pelting of rain against our canopies the only other noise amongst the cacophony of our engines.

"Did you see that?" Kei asked suddenly. I was immediately on full alert and scanning the sky with as much intensity as I could muster.

"Where?" I asked in clarification.

"There! It's right-" There was a slow progression of static that began to build in my headset that sapped all the remaining anger out of me to replace it with the coldest of fears. The chilling silence after the buildup made me call out apprehensively.

"Kei?" I could see her plane right beside mine, and the faint lights in her cockpit were bright enough for me to make out her head was facing my direction. But there was no reply.

"Look at you two," the Belken pilot's voice began, sounding more aloof than normal. "When Hamilton told us about the developments between the two of you, we could scarcely believe the universe could be so coincidental. Children of two world famous pilots falling for each other. Well… almost children, right Caden?" When the pilot used my name, it sent shivers down my back so strong, I had to fight to keep from jiggling the control stick. I looked back over to Kei's plane and began to hand signal her to be on the lookout, receiving an 'okay' sign from her after my message was complete. However, we were soon broken apart from our close flight as cannon rounds began to streak towards us.

"I mean, what are those odds?" the pilot continued, a false sense of wonder in her voice that told me she was about try and share some kind of conspiracy theory as she tried to gun us down. It turned out I wasn't far off the mark. "Turns out, they're too high to be coincidental. Those feelings you feel? They're nothing more than a convenient tool used by the people around you. From the beginning, you've been put together for the purpose of being more effective against targets your military sees as threats." What was this lady talking about? As I finished grunting through a high-g turn, I glanced down at my radar screen and saw that it was once again filled with multiple fake signatures, but on top of that, there were now ten different copies of Kei and me. Now our fiends didn't even know where we were. But one thing caught my eye. A lone friendly signature was closing in on our true position. They were still a ways off, but were definitely on course. I snapped my attention back to piloting as another spray of gunfire came out of nowhere, forcing me to pull up sharply and throttle out of where I had been, earning a few curses from Petra.

"Everything about your relationship has been calculated to be of use to the people who own you. You're nothing more than pawns in this game," the woman finished with a sense of finality.

"I've never really had a problem with being a pawn," I said after a long pause, trying to buy a little time for the plane approaching us. "I never wanted as big of a role as I was handed. Ask anyone, I don't like that kind of attention," I said pointedly, glancing at Kei's plane and remember our conversation in the diner all that time ago. I then saw the plane that had been approaching us, and apparently, our malevolent over watcher just noticed it too. In surprise, the woman shouted something, immediately followed by a burst of crimson energy from no more than a hundred yards away from us. The light's duration seemed to be much longer than any of the shots before, and in that extended time of illumination, I could make out the surprising shape of an F-16. But that wasn't what caught my eye. It was the large collection of antlers below the canopy that was briefly illuminated by the barely avoided shot.

As soon as the bright light dissipated, the signatures on the radar all fell away and an overwhelming flood of radio traffic came through our head sets. Sylvia immediately began speaking.

"This is Razgriz two! We've got solid contact with the enemy! Converge on location!" Sure enough, our radar's were now showing a solid enemy signature where the plane had just fired from.

"Edge," I began with urgency. "Cover me, we're going after this psycho."

"Roger," she responded promptly, coming even closer than before. For her part, the Belken pilot seemed to take everything in stride. I didn't know what had caused everything to turn in our favor, but I wasn't going to question it. I pushed the throttle to its maximum position and began to chase the aircraft in front of me, but there was suddenly a stream of cannon fire that pelted the aircraft from its side.

"Who-" I began, searching for the origin of the rounds, only to find the F-16 still around and still heading straight for aircraft that had shot at them.

"Для конца. Для мир. Для моих товарищей!" The pilot yelled out to my confusion and astonishment as it slammed into the mysterious plane, engulfing the sky in a momentary fireball that silenced the radio. The radar signatures of the two planes fell away in the silence. The momentary reprieve was interrupted by the helicopter group that had captured the entrance to the tunnel.

"I hate to stop whatever is going on up there," the man began. "But someone's trying to override our control remotely. You need to hurry up and destroy the control center inside this tunnel. Your man Pop's is back on with updated information."

"Copy," I replied, shaking myself out of what I had just witnessed.

"You go deal with the tunnel," Garrison told us as Kei and I formed back up with Grimm and Snow as we waited for the transmission from Pop's. "We'll keep over watch while you're in there."

"Thank you," I replied.

"Kid, this is Pop's. We've come across the blueprint of the tunnel facility on the Major's disc. The SOLG control system is in the deepest part of the tunnel."

"Of course," Petra muttered. "'The princess will be at the top of the stairs in the highest room in the tallest tower.'" Pop's cleared his throat before continuing.

"Fly into the tunnel, attack the control system in the deepest part of the complex and escape out the tunnel exit on the opposite side. There are two central components to the control system. We must destroy them both, so a separate plane will have to go in from the other side at the same time. Good luck."

I began to wonder who would be going in from the other side as my flight began to get lined up to enter the tunnel. It was defiantly large enough to accommodate a plane, and lighting wouldn't be an issue here as it had been when we had escaped with Pop's. Still, it was a flippin' tunnel.

"We can do this," Kei said to me, seeming to sense my thoughts.

"Yeah," I replied, nodding my head for no one but myself.

"Razgriz, we got the go signal from the other aircraft. You're good to go."

"This is Razgriz, we're entering the tunnel. See you all on the other side," I said as we entered the tunnel. When we got into the enclosed space, I could feel my body begin to tense, every part of me knowing that one false move would have me slamming into a concrete wall. Not even an ejection would save me with the low clearance of the tunnel. Of course, the universe with its impeccable sense of bad timing added one more thing to the volatile mix.

"So you shot down Phaser, huh?" a voice asked with as much concern as one may have when discussing a penny in a parking lot. "I'd say I'm impressed with how you've cut down our numbers, but all of the pilots you've face so far have been a little… what's the word I'm searching for? You can take four years of Osean language, live with them for four more years on top of that, and still not know the right- enthusiastic! That the one, no wait, that's not… that's not the right one."

"Hamilton." I had once thought highly of the man, respected him. To know now that he was one of the biggest players in all the deception, it unnerved me.

"Caden. You know, when you first showed up on my Island, and don't be fooled, it's always been my Island, I thought that I might've been able to get you to see it from my side. I even though I could get Nagase in on it with us, and knowing what I do about Grimm now, even he could've been a prospective target. We've all been subject to what hatred can make people do. You see, what my… friends is too strong a word, perhaps… associates failed to see was that we weren't trying to cause conflict, we were trying to end it."

"That's rich coming from a man who's trying to nuke the planet," Marcus shot off.

"Shut up, I wasn't talking to you. Besides, you wouldn't understand with your privileged status," Hamilton said lighting quick. "There's only one way to get the world to actually listen to you these days," Hamilton continued, ignoring Snow completely. "You've got to threaten them. For years after the Belken War, everyday citizens of Belka pleaded for aid. The government in its push for territory and resources was short sighted and blew every financial resource it had into militarization. With no money for welfare or other public services, the quality of life fell below that of a third world nation. The cries for help fell on deaf ears, ears belonging to nations that could do more than enough to help, but were too rooted in hatred to give aid.

"By 2001, our country was threatening to fall apart at the seams. A course of action was finally decided on. My organization, the Gray Men, was re-founded and re-purposed with the goal of securing a brighter future for Belka by any means necessary. We decided we would replace the hatred others had of our country with an even stronger emotion. Fear, the greatest of all motivators. You of all people should understand. You yourselves experienced the same hatred. You yourselves made yourselves into one of the most feared squadrons in this war. We're the same, you see. If you stop now, you can put an end to all this hate, just like you've been trying to do all along." I knew the words were meant to manipulate me, but at the same time…

I could see the hint of truth in them.

But I decided to point out the countless flaws Hamilton seemed to breeze over.

"The hatred you speak of," I began, focusing on flying through the tunnel with renewed vigor. "It's only perpetuated with what you've done. True, there are people who will always hate you, even without cause, but there are so many more that are kind and compassionate. I can't allow you to force those people to live under a threat of death." There was a long pause of silence, and for a moment, I thought Hamilton wasn't even on the radio any more.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Try what you will, but I'm going to terrify the world into making sure Belka is brought justice." What I heard next confused me to no end.

"Heh, heh," someone began laughing. It almost sounded like one of those laughs you hear from an insane asylum in horror movies, but had the crackle of radio static letting me know it was someone in real life. After a few puzzling moments, the laughter stopped and was replaced by an equally surprising voice. "You know, you've always been too damn serious, Hamilton."

"You're alive, Bartlett?" the man asked, breaking his all knowing facade in a rare moment of surprise.

"The problem with you is that you can't tell the difference between friend and foe anymore. Terror is not your friend."

"The Captain is the other plane that's going to attack the second control center," Grimm realized out loud.

"Of course," Snow replied with a similar realization. "Only he's crazy enough to go through with a plan like this." With the laugh I had just heard from our former captain, I was sure Marcus had never spoken truer words.

"I see," Hamilton said with his air of omniscience returning. "I guess this shall require… direct intervention. I'll be seeing you soon, Caden."

**:|:|:|:**

We all sat riveted to the television. Once the president's address was over, the news almost immediately switched over to a broadcast coming from Sudentor.

"This is Tina Fisher, coming to you live with breaking news from Sudentor, where for the last hour and a half, a large military force has been gathering. But this is not what makes this news. Among the forces here tonight are Osean and Yuktobanian troops in a collaborative strike. Soldiers have been tight lipped about who or what their target is, but after that press conference, the general consensus among us in the media think there is about to be a major movement towards Belka."

"It's really happening," Mr. Irving said, breaking my concentration from the screen for a moment to see a look of wonder and surprise on his face. "I can't believe he got it to work," the man continued, rubbing his face with his hand as if to try and wake himself from a dream. My attention was brought back to the television as Tina started yelling out.

"You! Yeah, you! Would you mind answering a few questions for the folks at home?" Suddenly, the camera panned over to two soldiers wearing different uniforms, one Osean and the other Yuktobanian. The surprising thing about them was that they were both still alive and in one piece. They even seemed to be getting over from laughing about something. "What are your names?" the newswoman asked. Both men looked at each other and cracked a smile before pointing at each other's name tags sewn into their uniforms, much to the embarrassment of Tina. Humoring the woman none the less, each introduced themselves.

"Junior Sergeant Trovski," the man in Yuktobanian garb answered.

"Specialist Reeves," the other replied.

"Would you two be able to tell us what's going on?" Tina asked holding out the microphone for the two to respond.

"We, uh, we wait for Razgriz," the man named Trovski responded brokenly, Reeves nodding his head in confirmation and support.

"According to sources close to the President," Tina began, holding her ear that probably had a little speaker in it, "the 'Razgriz' consists of four Osean pilots. One of the pilots is reportedly a female, but we haven't been able to confirm this yet." It seemed the world wouldn't let me forget about the presence of the 'other woman.' Suddenly, there was a low rumble that came over the speakers on the TV.

"Sorry lady," the man named Reeves said in a hurry, "but that was the signal. You might want to get away from here." With that, the two men waved their good by's and ran towards different tanks. Tina didn't seem to know what to do. The cameraman, seeming to notice this, panned the camera once more to the skies as they began lighting up with gunfire and explosions, brief flashes illuminating bodies of planes just long enough to let you know they were there. Then there was a deep thud of a noise as the tanks that had just left began to fire as well.

"Caden's in the middle of all that?" Mrs. Irving asked with worry. I realized that she was probably just as worried as I was, if not more, about Caden's well being.

"Don't worry too much about him," Andrew replied, rubbing his wife's arm in a comforting manner. "This looks almost exactly like the liberation of San Salvacion, and if that's anything to go by, he's got nothing to-" The speakers of the TV suddenly cut out after a brief burst of sound that nearly made me go deaf. We all whipped our heads back to the screen to see a dimming glow of light in the background.

"I'm just getting word in from our military correspondent," Tina began, the camera quickly coming back around to her. "Top military officials say that the Belken government has seized control of the abandoned SOLG and is using it to try and bombard the recently formed coalition for-" Tina was interrupted as another boom came across the speakers, causing all of us to cringe. I glanced back at the Irving's and saw them holding each other, clearly worried for their son who was up in the air. Just when it seemed Tina was about to start up again, another anomaly occurred in the sky. A bright red beam came out of nowhere, ending with a couple of explosions.

"Jim? Did you get that?" Tina asked the camera with a shocked face. Seeming to get a hold of herself, Tina readdressed the camera. "Uh, f-for viewers who are just now joining, the sky lit up just moments ago with a frightening familiar sight, one that was last seen over November City earlier this year."

"What's she talking about?" I asked.

"While you were still in your coma," Mrs. Irving began, trying her best to speak over the cacophony happening behind Tina, "there was a battle over November city when the Vice-President tried giving a pro war speech. A pilot lost his life because of that very same flash of light. He was the father of that little girl you met at the Davenport Estate." A pilot lost his life to it?! I began to worry even more as nothing happened in the dark sky. An eerie silence pervaded, punctuated only by the occasional explosion in the sky. It became too much for me to watch. I got up from my spot right in front of the television and went to my room, leaving the Irving's to watch by themselves. I curled up into myself and wished myself to sleep, hoping I would wake up in the morning and find it had all been a dream.

**:|:|:|:**

"Did Bartlett get out okay?" I asked as soon as we all cleared the closing shutter of the tunnel. As soon as we had destroyed the systems controlling the SOLG, the tunnel began closing itself off, one blast door at a time. We had been pushing the engines into the red just too barely escape the death trap.

"I'm fine, Kid. Glad to hear you made it out yourself," Bartlett replied, the same old gruffness in his voice putting me at ease. I allowed myself to sink into my seat at last, waiting for everything to hit me as I came down from the high I had been on for the last hour.

"Where are we landing? My fuel isn't going to hold out much longer," Snow said, bringing up a good point. We had abused our planes and I wasn't sure how much longer they were going to put up with us.

"There's an airport that's been requisitioned in the city," Pop's replied. "Go on ahead and land your planes there. There's some things we need to discuss." The ominous message from veteran pilot didn't sit well with me and I was apprehensive the whole way back. Once we landed, we were all told to go to a room inside the airport and wait for further instructions. Once we were inside the room, an uneasy silence came over us.

"Isn't the war over now?" Grimm asked for all of us, breaking open the can of worms.

"It should be," Larry said, the scowl he had been wearing since we had landed still not leaving his face. "The Gray Men have lost their last bargaining chip, there shouldn't be anything else they need us for."

"Relax," I said, hoping no one would see I myself was as nervous as the rest of them. "I'm sure it's just a debrief."

"Wish it was that simple," Pop's said with a sad smile as he entered the room, surprising us all. "Unfortunately, Larry's wrong."

"What do you mean?" Petra asked quickly.

"The Gray Men have one last tactic up their sleeve. And it's probably the most deplorable thus far." We all became stone silent as we waited for Pop's to continue. "As soon as you all and Bartlett took down the control center for the SOLG, it changed its trajectory. We think it was preprogrammed to destabilize its orbit if it stopped receiving commands from that tunnel." Destabilize its orbit? "We're still working out possible vectors, but it looks like it's maneuvering for an impact zone over Oured."

"They're going to crash it into a city?!" Kei yelled in disgust.

"How much time?" I asked, knowing where this was all going. Pop's was silent for a couple of moments as he just looked at all of us.

"We're going to get you over to Oured as soon as we get you acquainted with your new aircraft. After that, we're looking at three, maybe four hours if we're lucky."

"What are we waiting here for?" Marcus said as he got up from his chair. "Let's make some luck." Pop's just smiled a bit and waved for us to follow him. As we began walking back towards the tarmac, Pop's began speaking again.

"Ground forces found a peculiar facility while they were securing the city. It appeared to be some kind of R&amp;D place and when they saw an aircraft come out of it during the middle of the battle, they rushed in to secure it as well. What they found inside is… remarkable to say the least. Makes me a little jealous you kids get all these new toys."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, the familiar feeling of excitement building inside me despite the circumstances we found ourselves in.

"Why don't you go and see," Pop's said with his sly smile, gesturing to the door he had stopped in front of. 'Authorized Personnel' was written prominently on the door and made me even more curious about what lay beyond. I pushed open the door and walked into a dimly lit hangar area. Yet, even in the dark room, I could make out the shine of exotic looking aircraft.

"Someone hit the lights," Pop's yelled from behind us. I could hear some movement as someone else inside the room moved around to hit a switch. After a momentary blinding brightness, by eyes adjusted to the new environment. Before us were four very different looking planes.

"Seems the Gray Men weren't all bad," Pop's said with a hint of humor in his tone. "They left you some presents after all."

"What are they?" Grimm asked, walking up to the aircraft closest to us with Sylvia following him, in an equal amount of amazement herself. It was a single seat aircraft that had forward canards and tail fins that looked like they were borrowed from an F-23. The actual wings themselves seemed like an angular variation of a Su-47.

"Prototypes, mostly," Pop's replied. "That one there though, that's an imitation of an Erusian design. They've got it designated as the X-02. Code name 'Wyvern.'"

"Grimm," Sylvia whispered, though in the large hangar, it was pointless at preserving any secrecy. "It's only got one seat."

"They all have only one seat," Pop's said, causing Sylvia to turn a little red. "Unfortunately, you three CSO's will be staying behind." There was a beat of silence before it was sharply interrupted.

"You kidding!" Petra exclaimed with a put-on sense of excitement. "I'm finally free of Mr. Crazy!" I was glad Petra was making light of the situation, but I would still have to give her a proper farewell before we left. Smiling, Pop's continued showing the aircraft to us.

"And the one beside us, I assume you'll recognize it from a couple days ago."

"The XFA-27," Snow answered walking over to the craft that had harassed us only a few days ago.

"What about the two at the end here?" I asked, eying the last two aircraft. One of them didn't even have a canopy.

"The one beside the XFA-27 is a new one no one's ever seen before. We tried booting it up, but the only thing we could read on its boot screen was 'ASF-X Shinden II.' After that, it's all in a language we can't make out."

"Shinden?" Kei asked, repeating the word with a strange accent.

"Yeah," Pop's replied slowly, his face morphing into one of deep thought. "Say, Nagase. You happen to know any other languages?"

"Let me take a look," Kei said with a coy smile as she walked towards the strange plane. Its whole front section looked like it had been taken from an F-22 and given canards, but that was where similarities ended. An air intake was about six feet behind the canopy and on top of the fuselage. It too had forward swept wings and tail fins that were angled like and F-23, but its engines were what made it unique. They were stacked right on top of each other, the bottom one sitting forward just a little more than the top. It looked as if it had thrust vectoring capabilities with paddles similar to an F-22. Once Kei was in the cockpit, she began flipping switches and furrowing her eyebrows. After a few moments, one of her trademark grins popped onto her face as she flipped a final switch with gusto. The plane roared to life, causing all of us to smile and wince at the same time as the enclosed hangar echoed with the noise of the engine. Kei quickly shut the aircraft down and hopped out, a persistent smile on her face.

"Mine," she said simply as she joined the rest of us. Pop's just nodded and pointed out the final aircraft.

"We believe the one on the end, the one without a glass canopy, is the same craft you all fought tonight. Frankly, it's terrifying what the Belken's were able to stick into it."

"It..." Larry spoke up from behind us, a strange tone in his voice that worried me a little. "It's so similar."

"You've seen it before?" Pop's asked. I couldn't tell if his scowl was an angry or confused one.

"No," Larry replied distantly, walking towards the craft. "No, the one I saw, it looked almost just like this but…" he shook himself out of whatever state he was in and turned back around to us. "The one I flew had a glass canopy and looked more… conventional."

"You flew one?" Pop's asked, his expression now discernible as disbelief.

"I flew something like it," Larry said, seeming to get tired of making the clarification. "It was called the ADFX-02 'Morgen.' There will never be another plane like that one," he finished distantly. Pop's continued to look over Larry for a few more moments before continuing.

"Well this one is called the ADF-01 Falken. And like most things in life, it's what's on the inside that makes this plane even more unique."

"More unique than not having a canopy?" I asked, unsure if Pop's knew what he was talking about. Pop's just flashed me a grin before calling over to a solider guarding the plane.

"Do the thing," he said with a wave of the hand to the man. The soldier just smiled, nodded and climbed into the plane. After a moment, the hatch he had climbed in closed and various lights flickered along the outside of the craft before dimming to a barely noticeable glow. As if that wasn't enough, the whole top portion of the craft suddenly seemed to separate and come up, revealing some kind of cannon.

"What's th-" I began asking before Pop's cut me off.

"A laser." Everyone turned back around to him, forgetting the aircraft with a laser for a moment. "There are canisters of different chemicals loaded onto that aircraft that provide energy via chemical reaction to power a laser. After some analysis, our people say it can fire maybe three times before the chemicals are exhausted. But that's not the drawback. There doesn't seem to be any kind of cooling system in place other than air ventilation. Probably too heavy otherwise. If a pilot were to try and shoot before it had cooled down… well… there would be problems."

"That's what happened," Kei suddenly said. "That's what happened with that pilot tonight. She must've fired when it hadn't cooled all the way and damaged her aircraft before..." We shared a quick glance, both thinking about the pilot who had flown right into the other aircraft.

"Okay," Pop's said, not seeming to understand what Kei and I were thinking about. "Well, the laser isn't the only thing surprising about it. Go on and climb into it, Caden." I raised my eyebrow and walked towards the plane as the soldier who had been inside it got out. He had the grin of a kid on Christmas as he retook his post. What could be so-

"There's just a seat in here!" I yelled out, searching for a control stick or… anything to put my hands on.

"Just relax and put your arms down on the sides of the seat," Pop's yelled out to me. I remained skeptical but did as the man told me. To my shock, as soon as my arms made contact with the sides of the seat, I felt a strange tingle go up my arms before a message was displayed on a hexagonal screen in front of me. 'New user registered. Begin neural mapping.'

"Neural mapping?" I muttered to myself. "Pop's what does-" I tried asking before the hatch above me shut and a computerized voice began to speak to me.

"Welcome to COFFIN, or Connection for Flight Interface. This system is currently optimizing for your neural configuration. This program will familiarize yourself with the principal of controlling this aircraft through thought."

"Through thought?!" I asked the voice, knowing I probably wasn't going to get a useful answer.

"All aircraft operations are conducted through the pilot's wishes. To demonstrate, please think about viewing the outside of the aircraft." Pushing aside my growing concern that I was trapped inside something that had called itself COFFIN, I thought about seeing what was going on outside. Almost as soon as the thought entered my mind, multiple hexagonal screens blinked to life, combining to create a real time image of the outside of the plane. I gasped in surprise as I looked around. I even looked below me and could see right through the bottom of the plane. I glanced behind me and there was nothing there. I was basically sitting in mid-air with nothing around me. After the computerized voice had me think a couple more things, I thought the hatch open and the computer shut itself down. Now I had the stupid Christmas smile.

"Mine," I said as I popped out of the airplane.

"Well, if that's all settled, there's just a few more things that we need to do before we can let you get to Oured. There's some food in the next room over. I'd suggest eating before you get out of here. Who knows when you'll have the chance again." Grimm, Snow and our former CSO's basically ran towards where Pop's had pointed but Kei and I still had a question we wanted to ask.

"What's up you two? Gonna ask me if you can have the hangar to yourselves?" Pop's asked teasingly.

"No!" Kei said scandalized.

"We were actually wondering if you knew anything about the F-16 that… well..."

"There's been some murmurs amongst the Yuke's," Pop's replied, becoming much more serious. "Apparently, you and him had a run in early on."

"I thought so..." I replied, thinking back to the day I had nearly met my match over the mass driver, but instead ended up sparing my wounded opponent. Kei also seemed to remember the pilot by the way she glanced at me.

"The Yuke's are saying that you had wiped out his entire squadron, and that he had hated you for a long time. Some even say it was him who gave you all the title of the Razgriz." I began to pale. It hit me that there were a lot of people I had ended up killing, a lot of friends of people we were now calling allies. There was so much blood on my hands… "They're also saying that when he realized who was really behind this war, there was no one more dedicated to allying with us Osean's and striking back at the Gray Men," Pop's continued, knowing what I was thinking. "Caden, everyone knows that the enemy here are the people who tried pitting us against each other. Everyone knows that your squadron was one of the first to try and put a stop to it. Don't beat yourself up to much, okay? We still need you to finish this."

"I'll be sure to finish it," I replied, clenching my fist with determination. "You can count on that." Kei and I made our way towards the door the others had disappeared through. To say our good by's to our Combat System Officers and grab a quick bite. I had a feeling that I would need some subsidence for what was coming up.

**:|:|:|:**

A deep rumbling was what woke me up. I felt terrible, and when I saw the clock beside my bed, I realized why. I had gotten into my bed to hide from reality at around one in the morning and the alarm clock beside me told me that only three hours had passed since then. But the fact still remained that a high pitched scream and rumble was coming from outside, and seemed to be growing louder. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded like… !

I ran towards the curtains of my window that overlooked the raised highway next to our hotel. The road was completely empty and seemed to be blocked off. I tried my best to peer down either side of the stretch of asphalt, attempting to see what was making the noise. And there they were, four black planes, all different shapes and sizes, lining up on the runway, slowly getting silent and eventually shutting down. A large tanker truck pulled up to the first plane and began to attach hoses. I could see people getting out of the aircraft and making their way towards the building I was currently in. I didn't know how, but some part of me just knew that one of them was Caden.

I quickly ran into the bathroom attached to the room I was staying in to be sure I didn't look like I had just… Well, I had just woken up, but I did the best I could with thirty seconds to tidy up my appearance and made my way for the stairs. I knew that riding the elevator would just feel too slow after a year.


	47. -The End of An Unsung War-

**The End of an Unsung War**

"Blaze?" Pop's called out over the radio.

"Go for Blaze," I replied, still marveling at the view I had with my new aircraft. I couldn't stop looking around the sky. It was still dark out, but the sky was slowly starting to get lighter as morning approached.

"We've located a place for your squadron to wait and refuel while the SOLG reenters the atmosphere. It would be pointless for you guys to be up while it descended to a strike able altitude. There's also a VIP who wants to meet up with your squadron and personally wish you guys luck before you launch. The President's being tight lipped about who they are, so you're in for a surprise."

"Copy," I replied as my display suddenly brought a map up and began highlighting a section of downtown Oured. "Landing point received," I added as I recognized the highlighted section to be a raised Highway. There was a moment of silence between Pop's and I before the older pilot spoke.

"Chopper would be proud of the Captain you've become," Pop's said with a somberness that was as deep as an oceanic trench.

"Thank you," I replied, suddenly finding it harder to see through my bleary eyes. After a few more seconds of respectful silence, Pop's spoke once more.

"Well, I'll be in touch once you're back up in the air."

"Speak with you later," I replied before the connection went out. I gathered myself before I addressed the squad. "Razgriz," I began, my voice as firm as I could make it. "We'll be landing on an improvised runway in downtown Oured before we attack the SOLG. We'll be sent off by a VIP that as of now, only the President knows the identity of."

"Sounds like a plan, Captain," Grimm responded.

"A VIP, huh?" Marcus asked with casual wonder. "You'd think those types of people would've evacuated the city with the rest."

"They must believe we won't fail," Kei replied. "They trust us with their lives."

"Let's not break that trust, then," I said as the foggy outline of Oured began to come into view. There was a thick blanket of impenetrable mist over the water surrounding the city, reminding me of a painting of a foreboding medieval castle. Just as I began to wonder how I would land in the weather, a wire-frame outline of buildings began to overlay on my displays. The bright green lines moved perfectly in sync with the buildings in real time and gave me a clear 'view' through the fog.

"Too cool," I murmured out loud, wondering if there was anything this plane couldn't do.

"What up?" Kei asked, hearing my unclear utterance.

"This plane is amazing," I replied, glancing over at Kei's plane. The hexagonal screen displaying the cockpit of her plane automatically zoomed in and gave me a close up image of Kei that made it seem like we were talking face to face.

"I hear you on that," Kei replied. We landed without incident and a tanker truck quickly came by to fill us up before we would have to leave. We had about twenty minutes to wait around before it would be practical for us to take off again.

"Sir," a man who was near an exit off the bridge yelled out as we began to walk down towards him. "The VIP who would like to speak with you is in that building," the man continued, pointing to a hotel behind him. I swore I saw movement in one of the windows, but paid little attention to it. There were more important things than moving curtains.

"Thank you," I told the man as we walked past him and towards the indicated building. It was a nice hotel, maybe even a step up from the one we had stayed at during our trial. I temporally lost myself as we walked, thinking about all that had happened in that week. I was gently pulled back to the present as I felt a hand snake its way into mine as we walked. I glanced down to my side and found Kei to be the one who had captured my hand, a thoughtful look on her face.

"You thinking about it too?" I asked her, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Huh?" she asked, a ghostly smile on her face.

"It looked like you were thinking about something," I told her as she pulled in closer to me.

"I was," she replied simply, her smile growing slightly larger as she knowingly teased me by not giving a more complete answer.

"Was it something good?" I asked, trying to probe a whole response out of her.

"Yes," she said, her smile getting even larger.

"Oh, that's cool," I said with a large sigh and an eye roll, causing Kei to squeeze my hand as she laughed.

"I was thinking about the last time we were in this city," she finally admitted, bumping up against me as we continued towards the lobby doors of the hotel. I just smiled at Kei's antics, happy in knowing I'd have the rest of my life to enjoy them. When we walked into the hotel, there was no one in the lobby to greet us. However, after a few seconds, two men dressed in butler uniforms showed up. Kei and I stole a glance at each other with raised eyebrows before looking back at the two strangely dressed people, Grimm and Snow obviously just as surprised as we were.

"Razgriz," one of the men began speaking, a very formal air coming from him. "We here at The Pilton are most honored to have such distinguished guests, even if for a few moments."

"It would please us to no end," began the other man, also speaking with a similar sense of formality, "if you would make this your home for the next few moments. Please, inform us of any needs you may have for the duration of your stay." There was a stifling silence as the four of us stared at the two gentlemen.

"Where's the toilet?" Marcus asked finally. The bluntness of the statement after the practically royal treatment from the two men was enough to make me wince. The two uniformed men, however, merely raised their eyebrows for the briefest of moments before they both simultaneously pointed left. "Thanks," Snow said as he gave a slight nod to the two men as he passed them walking towards the bathroom.

"Do you guys still have a breakfast bar out?" Grimm asked hesitantly after another couple moments of silence. Once again, the two that greeted us pointed simultaneously, this time to the right. Now it was just Kei and I. No one said anything and I was starting to reach my threshold for awkwardness. Where was this VIP?

"We uh... don't really… need… anything," Kei said at last, glancing up at me to see if I would object. Seeing I wasn't about to, she looked back at the two men who just politely bowed and went back through the door they had come from.

"That was…" I began, staring at the door the two men had come from.

"Weird," Kei finished for me.

"I was going to say strange, but weird works too." I glanced down at my watch and saw we still had about a quarter of an hour to kill. Just as I was about to say something, Kei beat me to the punch.

"You know, ever since I was a kid and saw this movie, I wanted to run around a lobby." I looked down at Kei who was scanning the room we were still standing in with an appraising eye.

"So, just like, run around the room?" I asked trying to clarify.

"No," Kei said with a slight frown. "In the movie I'm talking about, there were just a bunch of kids who were let loose on the city and did whatever they wanted. I always wanted to be crazy do stuff like that, but didn't. You know, societal norms and everything."

"Yeah, stupid rules," I agreed. Kei just slapped my arm before she spoke up again.

"But right now, this city is practically empty. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if we were the people with the most authority in a hundred mile radius."

"What are you suggesting, Miss Nagase?" I asked with a quirked brow.

"Chase me," she said with a childish grin, backing away as if she were somehow sneaky and I didn't know what she was doing.

"You want me to chase you through the hotel?" I asked, a smile growing on my face at the prospect of doing something so… not-normal.

"You know you want to..." she sung out, continually backing away from me in a teasing manner. I let the last of my inhibition fall away as I playfully rolled up my flight suit's sleeves.

"Just remember," I began, my smile growing to match Kei's, "You asked for this."

**:|:|:|:**

I had been halfway down the stairs when I was struck by guilt. Here I had seen Caden walking towards the hotel and the first thing I thought of was myself when right across the hall was his parents. His parents who hadn't seen him in even a longer period of time. Who knew when this chance might come again! I began to run back up the stairs, angry at myself for thinking I was faster than an elevator and the engineer of this damn building who thought they'd try and compete with the highest building in the city. Who needs a fifty story hotel anyways?! I bet this hotel had never even gotten up to half its capacity. Panting and out of breath, I knocked heavily on the Irving's door. I waited a few moments but there was no sound coming from the other side. I began to worry slightly and knocked again.

"Mr. Mrs. Irving," I called out. "Wake up, it's urgent!" Again, I heard nothing on the other side of the door. I began to pound franticly, becoming more and more distressed with each second that passed. The thought that Caden could leave at any moment was starting to drive me crazy. I fell down to the floor and rested my back against the door as a fit of tears came to my eyes. Why did the world do-

From my position on the floor and through the hot tears in my eyes, I could make out a piece of paper on my door. I quickly pulled myself up and wiped my eyes so I could read the note.

_Whitney,_

_Andrew has arranged for Caden to stop by the hotel this morning, so if you wake up before it's six, we'll be down in the lobby waiting for him. And don't worry if you miss him, he'll be by later today as well. Hopefully._

"Hopefully?" I repeated out loud as I read the letter. Well, I knew he was here right now. I would take a 'for sure' over a 'hopefully' any day. And now I didn't have to worry about feeling guilty either. I opted to take the elevator down this time and mashed the button the whole way down because everyone knows that makes stuff go faster.

Fifth floor…

Forth floor…

Third floor…

My eyes were stuck to the red display inside the elevator as it slowly counted down to L. Then there was the hour of waiting as the elevator came to complete stop and just sat there and refused to open its doors. With a ding, the stainless steel impediment moved out of the way and I squeezed myself through without another second to lose.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting. I knew the hotel was empty, but the silence of the place was slightly unnerving. I was just about to call out when I heard someone else. It was a peculiar sound, one I hardly ever heard outside of movies. A squeal. And not that of a pig, either. I wasn't even sure I had heard it the first time, its occurrence so rare. However, when I heard it again, I knew it wasn't just my imagination.

"You've got to be faster, Caden!" a woman called out playfully, her voice somehow familiar to me, like I had heard it in a dream.

_"So you were first..."_ I paled a little as the voice began to come back to me.

"You're so slow!" the haunting voice yelled again, the joy coming from the person so out of tune with my feelings.

_"I don't know whether to be jealous or grateful of you_." Be jealous. Be jealous because he isn't yours.

"Not there anymore, slowpoke!"

_"I mean, he did love you..."_ Does. He does love me.

"Caden?" the woman sang beautifully, a teasing playfulness behind every syllable. "Where are you?" she laughed out.

_"But you also opened him up to love. I don't want to even think about how long it would've taken us if you hadn't."_ I stopped running towards the commotion. It felt like I was being crushed, consumed by something too large to even begin fighting off.

_"Thank you."_ I let myself fall to my knees, the energy to stand sapped from me.

"Whitney?" I smiled limply. The warm compassion, the faintest hint of an accent from some place different, yet comfortingly familiar. The strong sense of protection that naturally radiated from his tone. His respectful yet caring patience as he waited for my reply. Everything I loved, yet suddenly realized I would never have.

**:|:|:|:**

She kept herself just out of reach, keeping something between us at all times. Her lean frame made it easy for her to disappear behind something and pop up somewhere completely different.

"Kei, what is that VIP going to think when he shows up and sees us running around like this?" I asked her, temporally thinking back to why we were here in the first place.

"He's going to think you're a loser for losing!" Kei shouted out, now somewhere to my right instead of my left like I had thought. I thought I had a ding from somewhere down the hall, but Kei quickly recaptured my attention.

"You've got to be faster, Caden!"

"I'll show you fast," I muttered, suddenly lunging towards the place I had last heard Kei taunt me from. When I got to the approximated location, however, there was nothing there.

"You're so slow!" Kei yelled from right behind me. I spun around and found her no more than a meter away, behind a couch and slightly out of breath from all her darting around. I again launched myself at her but she was too quick on her feet as she ran to the left. "Not there anymore, slowpoke!" I lifted myself up from the couch and was about to give chase again when I noticed a shadow on the floor in a nearby hallway. Forgetting about the game a moment, I gave into curiosity and walked towards the dark figure on the floor.

"Caden?" Kei asked in a sing-song voice from somewhere behind me. "Where are you?" But I found it a little difficult to respond. I was too shocked at what- who -I just found on the ground.

"Whitney?" I asked, concerned and unsure why she was on the ground. Why she was even here.

"Hey," she said, sounding just as broken as she had appeared to be the night she was attacked by Charles. I opened my mouth to say more, but Kei rushed in from behind me, still a little giddy.

"What you doing? Taking a break?" Kei just then noticed the other person in the corridor, her face initially registering confusion followed by… maybe it was shock, I wasn't paying enough attention at the moment to be sure. I stepped forward and helped Whitney back to her feet, unsure if it was okay to hug her or not. But before I could come to a conclusion, I noticed Whitney's gaze shift to Kei. I followed her line of sight and saw the item of interest. For her part, Kei was trying diligently to hide the bright metal of her ring, but I too caught the glint of the shiny metal as her hands flung behind her back.

Whitney withdrew her hands from mine and began to back away slowly.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I should… Go." I reached out to stop her but was stopped by a booming voice behind me.

"Caden! My son!" The tone clashed so severely it made me jump. I turned around with Kei to see who had yelled and was astonished yet again.

"Dad?" I whispered to myself, becoming even more confused. Was I having another lucid dream? I glanced behind me, trying to see if Whitney was still there, but I only caught a glimpse of her as she disappeared around a corner. I was about to go run after her again when the voice that belonged to my father sounded off again.

"What are you looking over there for?!" my father cried out in a jovial mood that was at odds with my own. "I'm right in front of you!"

"Dad, is Whitney here?" I asked as I faced the man who continued to close in on Kei and me.

"… Yes. Why do you-"

"Caden," Kei began, sincere sorrow in her voice. "I'm so sorry. I tried to hide it, but-"

"Hide what? What's going on?" My dad asked, now as confused as I was.

"We were playing a game," Kei began, trying to explain things for me as I was in no state to try and piece things together.

"A game?" my father repeated with raised eyebrows. "What kind of game?"

"Dad, don't. Not now."

"We were playing a game," Kei repeated, "and Caden walked off somewhere. I went to find him and when I did, he was standing here with Whitney on the ground in front of him."

"What kind of game were you playing with her?" My dad asked with wagging eyebrows. I almost felt like punching the father I had thought was dead and hadn't seen in years in the face. I resorted to less violent tactics.

"DAD! Shut UP!" It was silent and Kei looked too scared to talk any more. "I helped Whitney up as Kei came by," I began as I gestured to the woman standing beside me. "But when I did, Whitney saw Kei's ring." My father looked like he was unsure whether to be confused or angry. So he opted to look confused but sound angry.

"What's wrong with seeing a ring?" he shouted at me. I couldn't believe this was how our reunion was turning out. And in front of Kei to boot.

"I gave Kei that ring, dad. And I gave her everything that ring symbolizes as well," I finished, taking Kei's hand in mine, both to solidify what I had just said and to keep Kei from running away, which she looked just about ready to do.

"Oh." The anger and confusion seemed to melt away from my father as his face took on a surprised look. "Oh," he repeated again.

"What's going on here?" my mother shouted from out in the lobby coming to join us in the hallway. She had something of an angry scowl on her face, but like my father's anger, it melted away as she joined up at his side and saw Kei and me holding hands.

"Oh," she said as her eyes stopped on Kei's ring. "Did Whitney-"

"Yeah," all three of us responded before she could complete her query. The silence was overwhelming and I could feel Kei's palms sweating.

"Captain?" Grimm called out, breaking all of us out of the strange trance. I squeezed Kei's hand before releasing it and replying.

"What's up, Grimm?" I asked as the man came into view.

"Oh good, you found your parents," the man said with a pleasant smile that told me he had thankfully not heard the shouting. "I just came by to tell you we should start heading back to our planes."

"What about the VIP?"I asked glancing at my own watch.

"That'd be me," my father said, his voice sounding much softer than it had been moments ago. "Good luck, to all of you," he said with a forced smile that my mom picked up as well. "I'll speak more with you when you land Caden. Perhaps then we can have a more… amicable time." I gave a sad smile and a quick hug to both of them before nodding.

"See you soon," I told them as I walked over towards Grimm.

"See you later," Kei said, still looking like a frightened rabbit. She quickly made her way to the front of the group and towards the lobby doors.

"Where's Snow?" I asked aloud as we were about to exit the lobby.

"Coming!" the man shouted as he ran from the hallway he had gone down when we first arrived. He quickly joined the rest of us and walked out the doors.

"Were you in the bathroom the whole time?" Grimm asked with a hint of amazement as we joined him and Kei outside.

"Those bathrooms are something else," the man replied, a wistful look in his eyes. "Maybe it's because I've been on a ship so long, but I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with a normal toilet again."

"Where were you?" I asked Grimm as we jogged towards our planes.

"Breakfast bar. I meet your parents there. Nice people. They were waiting for you, thought you'd go for the food as well. Where were you?"

"I'll tell you later," I replied as we got closer to our planes.

"That's not fair! Remember our deal on Sand Island! We share stuff!" the man yelled out as he stopped by his Wyvern.

"I'll tell you later!" I shouted back, a small smile finally coming back to my face.

"You're not going to tell him, are you," Kei said from beside me, a small smile on her face as well. We both stopped jogging as we came up to her smaller plane.

"I'll tell him something, just not what happened," I replied as I took her hand.

"I'm sorry," Kei began after a moment, her smile disappearing. I quickly kissed her to put an end to that.

"Don't be," I told her as soon as I could. "Sure, it didn't happen as smoothly as it could've, but it had to happen. Besides, as long as we're together in the end, it'll all be okay."

"You're such a smooth talker," Kei said, giving me a small kiss before beginning to climb into her own plane.

"And you're a tease," I muttered as I began walking towards my own plane. I was still concerned about Whitney, but right now, I had a city to save. Wow. That sounded so cool.

**:|:|:|:**

Stairs are the most stupid invention ever. No one likes them. They're just so stupid and pointless. They make me so angry I just want to yell and scream and collapse and cry and… stupid. I stopped on a landing somewhere between the lobby and my room, too drained in every respect to go on. I could just faintly hear the roar of engines starting up, cementing the fact that what had just happened was real, no matter how surreal it had seemed. Every worst nightmare coming true in a matter of seconds. I began to lose control of my breathing, forgetting the most basic concept of in and out and feeling all the more pathetic for it. That woman must've only been with him for only a few months and had already gotten closer to him than I had with years of friendship.

"Whitney?" I heard Mrs. Irving call up the stair well. Her tone had cautious concern laced in it that I knew was there to see if I was angry or sad. I just refused to answer. I needed… to be angry at the stairs, because no matter how much I wanted to be, I couldn't get angry at anything else. Not at Caden, because all he had done was move on and try to be happy. Not the other woman, who I still didn't know the name of, maybe because I hadn't cared to learn it. She had fallen in love with a man who was easy to fall for. I couldn't even be angry at the universe; it had pulled me through a coma without any mental issues. No, the only thing that I could legitimately hate in this moment was the stairs, for being pointless and hard and stupid.

"Whitney?" Elizabeth called out softly, much closer now.

"Aren't these stairs just stupid?" I asked through tears, my voice wavering despite my determination not to show the pain I was trying to hide. I hung my head, too ashamed of my state to continue to act like nothing was wrong. I felt Mrs. Irving sit beside me and place her arms around me in a sideways hug. I just leaned into her and let her be a pillar of support for a few moments.

"I'm sorry," the woman said a few moments after my sobs started subsiding.

"What are you apologizing for?" I asked. "None of this is your fault. None of this is anyone's fault. In fact, if anyone's to be blamed, it's Charles. That damned bastard was the one who put me in that coma." Now my hate had a real target. It was just a shame the man was dead, I really felt like shouting at him would be therapeutic.

"What are you going to do now?" my shoulder to cry on asked. It was a question I hadn't given serious thought to until now. Sure, the possibility had always been there, but I had been so… delusional that I hadn't even considered it. What would my life be about now that it couldn't be about Caden? Mrs. Irving was still waiting for an answer, so I decided to give one.

"I'm not sure," I began, pulling myself from the wet splotch on Elizabeth's shoulder. "But I'm going to figure it out."

"How?" the woman gently prodded as she rubbed my back. She was trying to make sure I actually had a course of action and wasn't just saying things to make it seem like I had it all figured out. Well, I didn't have it all figured out, but I wasn't just saying things either. I knew I needed to find a purpose, something that would make me happy, but I knew I couldn't do that here. In fact, all of Osea suddenly seemed too small a space for me.

"I've got an aunt who lives in Emmeria. I think I'll go stay with her while I figure out what I want to do. She's always wanted more visitors and I've always wanted to travel," I told Mrs. Irving, coming up with plans on the spot.

"You're not just running away, are you?" the other woman replied with twinge of concern.

"No… well… No. I need to be able to think without distractions, and right now, Osea is full of them."

"When are you going to go?" There was nothing holding me here. I was free to do whatever whenever. I suddenly realized I couldn't even be mad at Charles for putting me in a coma anymore because it had given me the opportunity to start fresh.

"Right now," I replied, finally moving to get up. And making my way to an elevator.

"Are you sure? You're not even going to-"

"I can't face him- them like I am now. It still hurts too much. I need to… become my own person again before I can face them." There was a prominent ding as the elevator car arrived. I stepped on alone and before the doors closed, said one last thing.

"Don't tell him where I'm at. If he asks, just tell him what I'm doing."

"I will," the woman replied, unshed tears in her eyes. I let the doors close and rode up to my floor, convincing myself the whole way up that I wasn't running away.

**:|:|:|:**

"Your final sortie… it's almost kinda sad, huh?" our controller asked me as I pulled into position on the highway.

"Almost," I replied, as a strange feeling began to overtake me. This was… familiar.

"All right," the man continued. "Launch preparations complete. Good luck out there Razgriz!"

"Thanks," I said back distractedly, thinking about why I suddenly had a sense of dread. As soon as I was at minimum take off speed, I pulled up, separating from the ground.

"This is Oka Nieba," our AWACS plane announced as I joined up with the rest of my flight members. "We have figured out a predicted point of vulnerability for the SOLG. We will upload the coordinates to your planes."

There was a tense silence as we flew towards the coordinates we received. All of us were biting at the bit, filled with apprehensive nerves, thinking about what was riding on the outcome of this mission. I accidentally discovered that the computer on my new plane was capable of mission success probability calculation when I thought about our odds. I quickly tried to think of something else to get the incredibly low number off the screen. I didn't need to think long before something else caught my attention. However, once I realized what it was, I almost preferred looking at the really low number that had probably just dropped even lower.

"These fighters are definitely the Razgriz," a disdainful voice proclaimed.

"Oka Nieba to the Ghosts of Razgriz. New enemy planes on the radar. It's a double Belken formation… Ofnir and Grabacr."

"Captain," Grimm said forcefully, letting me know he was ready for the upcoming battle.

"Blaze," Snow echoed, a similar determination in his voice.

"Caden," Kei added, her tone no less forceful or determined despite using a more familiar name.

"Razgriz, we're here to save a city," I proclaimed. "Let's not let some overzealous pilots get in our way." A chorus of 'Rogers' agreed with me as we continued to fly towards the incoming fighters.

"We will restore the pride we had fifteen years ago!" Ashley Bernitz, the leader of Grabacr squadron yelled out as he continued to fly towards us.

"It's time to settle this, evil ravens!" Michael Heimeroth, leader of Ofnir, added, a similar gritty determination in his voice. If we hadn't been on full throttle before, I would've made my aircraft accelerate even faster, but as it was, we were already flying towards the eight planes with as much speed as the atmosphere would allow. Within seconds, we were all in engagement range and the whole sky broke into chaos. Bright tracers flew aimlessly, hoping to hit a random target. Hastily launched missiles from the Belken's proved how eager they were to reduce us to memories. But my flight remained vigilant and aware of each other.

"Don't fight by yourself," Michael sneered as his plane, and Su-32 dropped in behind me. At first glance, the plane almost looked like it was painted to look like a cow, causing me to almost lose my concentration. However, that concentration came right back as the vile man continued to speak. "Take them two-on-one."

"Captain!" Kei spoke out, causing my heart rate to rise even more as I scanned the skies for her, thinking she was in danger. "There's a second enemy aircraft coming around to your six!"

"Copy," I replied, finally get a glimpse of Kei and mentally marking her position, only to have the aircraft I was in begin to actively track all my wing mates with small arrows pointing towards all their positions. Now if only it could do that for enemies as wel- like that. I smirked as all the enemy planes in the area suddenly had target indicators pointing towards all of them. I began to simply think about chasing down one of the enemy aircraft on Marcus' tail, as he was closest to me. However, since the enemy was so dead set on double teaming us, I was able to get behind two planes. I fired a missile at one and cannon rounds at the other, leaving Snow without anyone on his tail.

"You shall fall to your deaths and lead the way for the SOLG as it smashes into the earth! We will reclaim the victory that was taken from us!" Ashley yelled out in rage as the two of his comrades fell towards the bay below us.

"Thanks captain," Marcus said over the man's ranting. "Time to return the favor."

I had wondered how quickly we would be able to get used to our new planes. Most pilots only switch planes maybe once or twice in their careers. Normal careers, mind you, like the typical ten or so year careers. We had only been in service for a couple of months and I already forgot how many different planes I had flown. So when Marcus peeled off to the left as if physics didn't exist and began to bring his plane behind my trailing enemies, the blade-like wings of his aircraft glittering in the rising sun like shards of glass as they moved to obey the pilot behind them, I was a little flabbergasted. However, I couldn't leave the issue of my pursuers purely to Snow. I began to dart around the sky, slowly making my way towards Grimm who seemed to be doing a good enough job of holding off his pursuers while harassing Kei's as well.

I took a pass at one of the planes on his six and caught the right wing of the craft, causing it to snap like balsa wood and force the plane into a tumble. With only one plane to contend with, Grimm was able to get a shot off at one of Kei's tail's and send him careening towards the bay as well.

"Rise, my brothers!" Michael began, his voice momentarily having as much conviction as a southern Baptist preacher. "Rise up with the power of our hatred! Rise up and bring the ruling power of fear over our enemies!"

"Believe in the victory that lays before you, brothers!" Ashley added on, the two of the squadron leaders sounding more deranged than cult leaders. Kei decided that she had heard enough of the crazy Gray Men leaders. Her small and nimble plane suddenly sported two bright jets of purple flames as she hit the after-burner, gaining a crazy amount of speed as the light aircraft took off towards the clouds, her lone pursuer unable to match the trust ratio and quickly falling behind.

"Grabacr! Ofnir! Your hatred is slowing you down!" she yelled as she climbed straight into the sun. I wouldn't have even been able to track her if it wasn't for the filter my plane automatically began to put over the sun, making it appear as nothing more than a white circle. Kei's plane suddenly changed directions as she performed a tight split s and came right back towards the plane that had blindly chased her, his hatred clouding his judgment.

"You're all idiots!" I heard Kei yell in anger as she fired upon and shot down the enemy plane. Anger born from the fact that all of this could've been avoided. Anger born from the fact that if people could just learn to put aside their differences, their hate, their ill conceived judgments, their jealousy, there wouldn't be a need for bloodshed and violence. Anger born from the fact that, because we're human, none of that would ever happen, that there would always be war and hate. "All of you!" she cried out. However, the anger that had been in her words was now replaced with a sound of tired sorrow. It was enough to even shame the remaining enemies to silence for a few moments as we all tried to kill each other. But everything has its end, and the silence was no exception.

"We will have our victory!" Michael shouted with conviction. "We've been humiliated long enough!" And of course there was Ashley with his two cents.

"We'll give you a taste of the pain felt by all those innocent people!"

"All that hatred is ancient history to us!" Grimm shouted out, a mix of anger and wasted desperation in wishing the Gray Men would open their eyes. "It's history," he began again, "and should stay that way!" Grimm was finally able to get his remaining pursuer, leaving us to deal with the two remaining planes on my tail, Ashley and Michael themselves.

"You're the ones who built the SOLG to use against us!" Ashley yelled out, starting to realize that his odds of shooting us down were no longer so favorable. "And now, you're sitting under your own dagger. Taste the Irony! Even after we're gone, the SOLG will be coming for you! Your fate is sealed, whether it's the SOLG, or Hamilton. We shall descend into hell along with the SOLG. As will all of you." As soon as the deranged man finished speaking, one of the planes on my six suddenly exploded.

"That wasn't me," a confused and surprised Snow said. "And what was that about Hamilton?" I, however, was still working on the first puzzle. If Snow hadn't shot him down, then-

"We will realize the victory that has been denied from us by a traitor! Don't think you've won. This isn't over yet! Not even if you stop the SOLG! I will now join our comrades in death. Victory to our Homeland!" With that, just like Ashley, Michael's plane blew up in a giant inferno, leaving nothing behind but burning fuel and black clouds.

"They self-destructed?!" Kei asked, coming to same conclusion I had.

"All enemy planes destroyed," Oka Nieba announced for us. "We still have a few moments before the SOLG reaches predicted vulnerability. Get ready." There were a few moments of silence before Kei spoke up. Her voice was soft, reminding me of the first time I had heard her, a shy and timid, speaking to me from atop a toolbox in a hangar in Heierlark.

"I see light to the east… morning's coming." I peered to the sunrise, purposefully turning down the filter for the light so I could better see the colors and beauty that the sky was producing. I felt so at home in that moment with the company I had.

"I can't wait to see it," Grimm began. The most beautiful sunrise ever!" I smiled just a bit as Grimm's enthusiasm. He must have still felt the adrenalin to say something like that.

"And the sun will continue to rise, now and forever," Marcus said in a low melodic voice, sounding truly relaxed in that moment.

"I just remembered," Grimm informed us. "My birthday's coming up next week."

"See?" Marcus said, his relaxed tone still present. "Aren't you glad you're still alive?"

"I bet my mom will be happy to see my brother come back home from Yuktobania," Grimm continued.

"You oughta' make her happy too. We're almost done here." After a moment, Snow began speaking again, but this time to me. "Captain, I want to thank you."

"What for?" I asked, a little confused.

"Flying as a wingman again," he started, letting his words end with thoughtful reflection. "I now know how my men felt," he finished.

"I vowed to myself that I would never lose another flight lead…" Kei began in a somewhat tired voice. "I vowed to myself that I would never lose you…" she added, her voice building in strength without becoming loud. "And that's kept me flying up to now. Caden, please, let me fly as your wing mate just a little while longer."

_"… Wait and find someone to become your 'wing mate,' that person you can share those experiences with. It makes the reasons for living so much clearer…"_

Chills traveled down my spine, even the plane seemed to sputter, as I remembered my father's words.

"Forever," I said after a moment.

"What?" Kei asked, not seeming to understand.

"You can be my wing mate forever," I reiterated. Nothing else was said for the next few moments as we waited for the SOLG to descend.

I heard it before I saw it. A loud crack seemed to break the air around us, shaking the aircraft for a moment.

"The SOLG should be at an attackable altitude now. Razgriz, engage the SOLG before it takes out the city!" our AWACS said as a dark and looming object began to appear in the dark blue early morning sky. "The atmosphere should have slowed it to be traveling at about three hundred meters per second," the accented man continued, "and will continue to slow it down to somewhere in low two hundred meter per second range. You'll have to be going pretty fast, but you should be able to keep up with it. Good luck."

We sped towards the falling satellite with all the speed we had. I was surprised at how immense it was. Its length and width were close to if not greater than the Arkbird's, easily dwarfing our own planes.

"Are there any critical parts we can target to get it to fall apart sooner?" I asked as I fell in behind the massive object. Large sections of the front were still a glowing orange and red, and some of the smaller pieces were falling off on their own, creating a dangerous trail of debris that we had to fly away from.

"The SOLG's outer shell has a rotating accelerator. The only way you can attack its core structure directly is through the gaps in this accelerator." I spotted what I thought was the rotating accelerator, four massive pieces of metal that still seemed glowing hot that were spinning around near the front part of the SOLG. Every so often, I could see gaps get revealed as the cooling metal spun around. "Once the core structure is critically damaged, the satellite enters a self destruct phase and… blows up. The SOLG is eighty miles from Oured, best hurry and shoot it down." The computer I was flying with began to highlight the critical areas for me. I then 'told' the computer to share the targeting data with the rest of the planes in my squadron.

"Well, let's blow up the SOLG," I told everyone as the computer completed its task. On cue, we all began to take up different quadrants around the falling satellite. There were four ports to fire into and we were all interested in taking down the behemoth as quickly as possible. As we began to fire on the key components, I realized that Ofnir and Grabacr really had been the SOLG's only defense from us. Other than timing our shots, there was no challenge in hitting the core of the SOLG.

"Blaze! Look out!" Grimm yelled suddenly, snapping me from my content watching of the rotating accelerator to scanning my immediate airspace. I quickly noticed a huge piece of debris heading my way and veered away to avoid the incoming garbage.

"Seems like it's starting to become unstable," Marcus commented as more pieces began falling away.

"Razgriz, you're forty miles from Oured," Oka Nieba informed us.

"We're almost done with this thing, Razgriz," I told my squadron as I saw another opening to fire and took it, the falling object rewarding me with glowing chunks of metal falling away in large quantities and more paneling and shielding getting torn off by the shearing wind. "Let's see it to the end."

We attacked the SOLG with a renewed sense of urgency, larger sections falling away and creating hazards for us to fly around. Suddenly, after a particularly vicious attack from us, bright red lights began to flash along the length of the SOLG. Just as quickly, our radios were filled with a very annoying tone before an automated male voice came over the channel.

"Warning! SOLG has sustained critical damage. Osean Standardized Space Evacuation Procedure 298-ENI-7b3 enacted. Ten… Nine…"

"Get out of here!" I yelled as I began to pull away from alongside the falling chunk of metal. Out of curiosity, I began to wonder what the Osean Standardized Space Evacuation Procedure 298-ENI-7b3 was, exactly. I had heard the countdown and assumed it was… dangerous but… A blurb suddenly appeared to the right on the screens around me. It was surprisingly short, I had expected something with such a long name to have an equally long procedural list but this was fairly simple to read.

_In the unlikely event of an OSSEP 298-ENI-7b3, personnel are advised to reach a minimum safe distance of three miles within thirty seconds or less, else serious and potentially fatal bodily harm may occur. If you doubt your ability to perform this evacuation procedure, inform your supervisor immediately to discuss possible alternative assignments._

"I bet that's skimmed over when signing contracts," I muttered as we all formed up a ways away from the SOLG.

"Two… One…" the radio cut out and was filled with static for a few moments as the explosion played havoc on the radio waves. It was a spectacular blue pulse of light that expanded and dissipated rapidly, beautiful if you could forget what it had been caused by.

"We've won!" a voice rung out. I recognized it as the same person who had given me clearance to take off. "They did it!" Giddy voices filled the radio, bringing a smile to my face. It was over. No more threats of mass destruction, no more crazy nationalists. We would land and finally be able to rest with a sound sense of peace.

"Let's go on ahead and land," I said over the cheering voices in the background.

"I like that plan," Marcus said, a serenity about him that was contagious. When we got over the highway we were using as a landing strip Marcus began to request permission to land.

"Come on in, Hero of Razgriz." Hero. We had been called Demons. We had been called Ghosts. Now, we would be known as Heroes. For a war that no one had wanted and had been caused by hate, ending up as a hero seemed like a pretty good thing. As Marcus was landing, something pulled me from my pleasant musings.

"What's this on radar?" The voice was faint, like someone else's microphone had picked it up.

"EJECT!" someone yelled out suddenly, breaking the calm that had ruled before. "Captain Snow, eject!" Without waiting around for a reason, Snow's deadly looking aircraft shot him from the cockpit and after another split second, blew up in a massive fireball.

"What was that?!" Grimm asked in astonishment. "Captain Snow, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," we heard the man say, the serenity that had been in his voice now thoroughly shaken from him.

"Razgriz, we've got a hostile bogey on radar, coming from the Northwest." Hamilton.

"Here I was, thinking that Ashley and Michael with six of their buddies would be more than a match for you," Hamilton said with his usual coolness. "I guess this proves that saying some Osean's are so fond of. What was it? 'If you want something done right, do it yourself?' Something like that, I'm sure."

"Hamilton, what are you doing?" I asked, anger and confusion fighting for control of my voice.

"You four just put an end to eight years of planning and preparation. Eight years of my life I had to spend immersing myself in this filthy Osean lifestyle. You put an end to the prosperous future of Belka. I'm duty bound to kill you all. It helps that it's a bit personal as well." There was a bright flash that came from the direction Hamilton was in and almost instantaneously, a shock wave rocked our planes. I could hear Hamilton sigh before he spoke again. "What do you think of this new weapon? You're helping me test it, by the way. It's a joint design between Gründer and one of the factions over in Estovakia. I think they're calling it the EML. That's an acronym for something, but I didn't really care what. Needs a larger aircraft to be mounted for now, but the power and range behind it is worth it in my opinion. It's just, the aiming that gets tricky sometimes so if you could try and hold still a little more..."

"Avoid the line of sight of Hamilton's plane," I commanded as we all broke out of formation. A few seconds later, another flash followed by a shock wave rocked our planes.

"Yeah, gonna have to include this in my report," Hamilton sighed, the unconcerned tone in his voice making me worried about his mental state. His aircraft was still well outside our engagement zone and it would be tricky trying to close in on him without getting in front of his plane. We were all coming at him from a different angle, trying to reduce the chance he had of taking us all down in a single shot.

"Hm… which to choose. You know, I bet you'd pick that one," Hamilton said, not caring at all he was speaking over an open channel. Another bright flash came from his plane, but it wasn't aimed at me.

"Aahh!" Grimm yelled over blaring alarms. I whipped my head around to his position and saw his Wyvern missing its whole right wing and quickly losing altitude. "I'm bailing out!" Grimm shouted, no prompting needed from Nagase or me.

"Grimm! Are you okay?!" Kei asked, true fear and concern in her quick transmission.

"My arm is hurt, but I'm out of the plane," Grimm said with deep breaths. "You guys have to take him down!"

"Well, I guess you didn't choose that one, did you Caden? I thought you would've been nostalgic and went with a plane from your own continent, but I see now that isn't the case. And I doubt Miss Nagase taught you the necessary language skills to fly the Shinden, so, that leaves you with the Falken." I saw another bright flash just before almost all the screens except for a few to my right and behind me went black and my plane shook more violently than it ever had before. "So close," Hamilton whined.

"Caden?!" Kei called out in fright.

"I'm fine," I replied quickly, trying to figure out a way to get my screens back online but nothing seemed to be working. "But something must've happened to the cameras. I can't see except for a couple of screens in places that are no good to me." I pulled up my radar and saw it still functioned, though it would frizz every few seconds sporadically. I could see I was close enough to engage Hamilton, but without any forward facing optics, I was useless. I jumped in surprise a little as a plane suddenly showed up on the screens that still worked.

"Kei?" I asked in surprise. "What are you doing? If he shoots right now we'll both be-"

"You trust me, right?"

"… Yes."

"Follow me as closely as you can. I'll guide you in."

"I can't see in front of me," I told her, afraid she didn't understand. Or maybe I was afraid she did.

"I know. I'll stick by your side. Just follow me and trust me."

"Alright," I said a little hesitantly. But there wasn't much else I could do. I kept my eyes glued on Kei's plane, glad that my thoughts alone were what were controlling the plane I was in. We were in perfect sync, my plane never drifting more than a few feet from hers.

"You two are making this pretty easy you know," Hamilton said. Another shock wave rocked us but I refused to break my focus from the plane beside me.

"Caden, can you use the laser?" Kei suddenly asked. If I was being completely honest, I had forgotten about the laser I had literally been sitting on top of for the last half an hour. But as soon as I thought about it, I felt my cockpit move and was sure that the thing was ready to fire. "Good," Kei half chuckled. "When I say, go ahead and fire it. I'll try and get you as close as possible to ensure a hit.

"You're going to fire that thing blind?" Hamilton asked in an amused voice. "And at me? And here I was looking forward to an honest challenge."

"Fire!" Kei yelled angrily, surprising me a bit. I complied and told the weapon to fire, feeling a slight vibration and hearing a low hum for a moment before everything returned to normal. A countdown timer popped up near where I was looking and began counting down from thirty seconds.

"Close enough," Hamilton mused. "I'll take that as an honest try."

"We're a bit to the left. I'll get us ready for the next shot," Kei said, raw determination in her voice.

"Copy," I replied as we began to roll and turn to the left. "I think the cool down is thirty seconds. I'll be ready to fire again by then."

"Good. Be ready," Kei said, her determination still prominent and unwavering. I found it surprisingly easy to stick with Kei, even during some of the more sharp maneuvers we made to avoid Hamilton's incoming fire. My countdown clock finally reached zero just as another shock wave rocked our planes.

"Ready," I told my guide as the timer faded away. Without response, Kei began to point us towards Hamilton again. After a few tense seconds, Kei gave the command.

"Fire!"

Ready for the shout this time, I fired the laser, the odd vibrations and noise coming back again.

"Oh, that one was close," Hamilton said, sounding oddly excited.

"Damn," Kei muttered as we pulled off sharply, another shock wave right on our tails.

"Warning," my plane suddenly announced. "Chemical reserves nearly depleted."

"Kei, I think we've only got one more chance at this," I said nervously as the countdown began again, this time from a minute.

"That's all we'll need," Kei said, her determination somehow even more prominent than it had been a few moments ago.

"Why are you even trying anymore?" Hamilton asked, an amused curiosity in his voice. "You must realize that even if you succeed in shooting me down, there's going to be someone who comes along to take my place. Even if Osea and Yuktobania pacify Belka, another country will come along to wage war. It's human nature and you can't change that."

"You're right, Hamilton," I said as I continued to follow Kei as closely as possible. "We can't change human nature. But neither can you. Not everyone's nature is destruction. Our nature is to protect the innocent and weak. To ensure peace to those who want it. And though this may be news to you, there's a lot more people like us than you." My timer reached zero and faded away. "Ready Kei!" Without another word, Kei abruptly changed directions and I followed without hesitation. She began to pull ahead so I increased thrust to catch up. We were flying around like crazy and I was starting to have difficulty maintaining pace with her smaller plane. During some of the more sharp turns, I swore I caught a glimpse of a third plane, wondering if we were actually that close to Hamilton.

I suddenly saw bright flashes from cannon fire originate from Kei's aircraft just before she yelled out to me.

"NOW!" Without hesitation or questioning, I fired the laser one last time, the vibrations and humming coming to greet me yet again. I could've sworn I heard a slight gasp of surprise before a much louder explosion, dulled by the metal between me and the outside world. There was silence for a moment as I continued to stick close to Kei who was now flying nice and level.

"Did we get him?" I finally asked.

"Yeah," Kei said, letting out a tired but warm sigh. "Yeah, we got him. It's over."

After a… interesting landing, Kei and I rushed to find out what had happened to Grimm and Snow. Besides being a little shaken, Snow was alright. He had landed on top of an office building and the heavy ejection seat had actually broken through the roof of the place. Some office workers would have an interesting remodel. Grimm on the other hand, had sustained shrapnel wounds on his left arm and was being treated at a nearby hospital. Other than him, there had been no friendly or civilian casualties today. After we had been assured he was going to be 'just fine,' we all turned in to the hotel we had been in earlier that day. They offered us rooms 'on the house' as a form of repayment for saving the place for a falling satellite. It turned out to be quite the deal as soon as I realized how much it cost to stay a night. Kei and Marcus were quick to fall asleep. But I needed to find Whitney. Now that the whole 'save the city' was over, it was the biggest thing for me to deal with.

"She's gone?!" I repeated, not sure what to think of what my mother had just told me. "Where did she go?"

"She said I couldn't tell you," My mom replied, not quite meeting my eyes.

"But you know, right?" Elizabeth nodded meekly. "Is she safe?"

"I think so," she said, putting her hand over mine as we sat at the table in her room. "She said she needed to become her own person again before she could face you and, uh..."

"Nagase," I replied after a moment. "Kei Nagase."

"Such a pretty name," my mother said with a barely hidden smile.

"Mom, right now I'm tired and hungry. I don't think I can-"

"Then I'll make some food and get you some tea to wake you up. You're not getting out of this story just like that. I haven't seen you in a year, we've got a lot of catching up to do." I sighed as I resigned to my fate. "So, how'd you two meet?" my mother asked.

"Well, it was at Heierlark. We actually met for the first time when we were trying to shoot each other down. We didn't talk until later..."


	48. -Epilogue-

**Epilogue**

"… and then I asked her if she was my goose." My mother just stared at me from over her tea cup.

"Caden, any woman who stays with you after something like that… She's going to stay with you through anything."

"You know, I really don't need to do this. I'm sure there's a bed for me somewhere that-" I was stopped by a knock on the door.

"Coming," my mother called out as she put her tea down and briskly walked to the door.

"Mrs. Irving," I heard a familiar voice say in greeting. "I was wondering if you had seen- Caden!" Kei called out once she saw me at the table with a cup of tea.

"Hey," I said with a slight wave as my mom let another visitor into her room. "How was your nap."

"Not as comfortable without-" I quickly cleared my throat and took another sip of my beverage while glancing at my mother who was already making up another pot for our new arrival. "Right," Kei whispered. "Without the rocking of a boat."

"That's too bad," I said with a slight grin as Kei took a seat beside me. My mother came back with another cup of tea and handed it over to the woman beside me.

"So you like sleeping on a boat?" My mother asked, striking up more conversation. "My husband said he hated it when he had to do it."

"Kei has a fondness for her… boats." I replied with a small grin as Kei sputtered on her tea in a small fit of laughter.

"Not as much as you have fondness for boots," she shot back. My mother just had a confused face at our nonsensical exchange. Deciding she would try to reel us in, she asked another question.

"So, have you two settled on a date?" Kei and I finished our small inside joke and faced my mother again.

"A date?" I echoed, unsure of what was meant.

"We haven't really had the time to focus on much else other than finishing this war," Kei replied as if she understood my mother's cryptic question. Maybe it was a girl thing.

"I see," my mother said with a nod. "Well, I guess Caden and I can finish some other time. I'll let you take your boat now."

"Thank yo-" Kei paused in mid sentence as her face flushed a red color much to the amusement of my mother.

"Okay, let's go Kei," I said as I helped her up and out of her chair, "before she has a chance to say something else."

"You two make excellent geese!" my mother called out as we practically ran through the door.

**September 10th, 2011**

"Still no sign of her?" I asked Kei, catching her staring over one of the numerous balconies. We had decided to have the wedding at her father's place. At first I had been unsure of the decision, we had quite the guest list. But after seeing the huge house Kei's father had been able to purchase with his wealth earned by years of mercenary work, I figured we could've invited three times as many people and still have room.

"No," Kei replied a little sullenly. "I really do want to meet her," Kei said as if she needed to convince me. She turned around and took my breath for what must've been the twelfth time today. "I think we could be great friends if she would just come and meet us." I walked out onto the balcony with her, breathing in the fresh Ustian mountain air that had a hint of Kei's perfume mixed in with it.

"I'm sure Whitney will come and meet us as soon as she's ready," I told Kei as I bent down and gave her a light kiss on the top of her head. "Besides, today's about you. I know for a fact that there are some people inside just dying to talk to you."

"If I hear one more joke from Petra about the customs of the North..." I had heard Kei's Bachelorette party had almost been as wild as mine.

"Come on Kei," I said with a smile.

"Alright," she finally relented. "And Caden?"

"Yeah?"

"This is by far one of the best birthday gifts I've gotten. Even if it is a day late." As soon as I knew Kei was going to start enjoying herself, I walked back to the table I had been sitting at.

"Hey! There he is!" Bartlett shouted out drunkenly, catching the attention of everyone else at the table. A chorus of 'hey's and 'hi's followed before I sat back down.

"I was just telling Bartlett about how you almost got shot down in that last engagement," Snow said, about as sober as Bartlett was.

"Yeah?" I asked with a smile. "Did you tell him how we managed to prevent a satellite from crashing into a city yet you still managed to fall through a roof? We were this close to no property damage!" Nearly everyone at the table burst into drunken laughter as Snow tried fruitlessly to defend himself. Once all the hearty laughter diminished, Grimm piped up.

"Hey Captain, do you-"

"Hans," I warned playfully, "we're at a wedding. And I know better than to think myself the captain of this event. So please, if only just for this occasion, call me Caden."

"Caden," Grimm restarted after a through throat clearing. "Do you think you could convince Kei to throw the flowers away from Sylvia?" Nearly everyone let a low chuckle loose before the young man could continue. "It's all she's been talking about since we got here!" he pleaded with anyone who wasn't smiling at him.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Pop's suddenly said, a sly smile coming over him as he lowered a stein he had been drinking from like a true Belken. "Get her to throw them to Nastasya." Bartlett nearly choked when he heard the plan.

"Hey now, wait just a minute-" the rest of the grizzly man's argument was drowned out by a hearty amount of laughter that I myself joined in on, sending a nod of 'well done' towards pops who just smiled and calmly took another swig of ale.

As the night went on, so did the laughter and good times. I saw Pop's and Nathan Brigham swapping money what seemed to be every couple of minutes. When our former AWACS had first arrived for the rehearsal dinner a couple of nights ago, he hadn't been able to stop thanking us and telling us how he had never stopped believing we were still alive and fighting the good fight. He couldn't believe it when we told him it had been us he had refueled all those months ago near the end of the war.

When Kei and I had sent an invitation to the Davenport's, we were worried if they would come or not. But within a couple of days, we had gotten a RSVP along with a short note that only said, 'I knew it.' Vicky was all too enthused to finally meet Thunderhead and was shocked to see that my hair had finally cooled enough to become its normal color. There was no way Kei was going to let me have red hair on my wedding day. Raenay couldn't stop gushing over Kei, pampering her like a princess. Part of me thought it was because she was trying to forget by staying busy, but a private conversation with her made me think otherwise.

"He'd hate himself if I just shut down and became a recluse," she had told me when I finally became brave enough to ask her how she was doing. "I miss him pretty bad sometimes," she said with misty eyes, "But I've got a little girl who needs a strong mom, and she's got so much of him in her, it's like he hasn't left sometimes. Thanks for inviting me, Caden," she said as she gave me a crushing hug. "I needed this."

Currently, Raenay was with Kei and the rest of the women who were laughing about something that seemed to be hilarious. Vicky, however, was sound asleep on a comfy chair with a large bloodhound. She had exhausted herself earlier with her canine companion by chasing and being chased by the friendly dog.

I however, was currently searching for the dog's owner, as well as a few other guests. I was just about to give up and return to chat with my drunken friends again before I heard a voice belonging to one of the people I had been searching for.

"You remember that operation over in Sota?"

"How could I not? You kept saying you were in love with that belly dancer who always seemed to know where we were."

"Heh," Larry chuckled. "I almost forgot about her."

"Well I haven't," Takuma, Kei's father, replied. "She ended up being a spy, remember? Nearly got us killed!" I finally laid eyes on the two fighter pilots as they looked out on the snow capped mountains surrounding us, the giant rock formations beginning to turn purple and red in the dying sun.

"Wait, really? I thought they were different- … oh. Yep, she was the one. Yeah, I always wondered why she was asking where we got our fuel from."

"You're such an idiot," the other man scolded playfully. Knowing the two were still catching up, I decided to leave them alone for now and silently returned to the party.

**November 29th, 2012**

"So, it is with both gratitude and respect that we rededicate this field in memory of Lieutenant Colonel Davenport." As the mayor of November City finished his speech, the large cloth was pulled from the metal statue in front of the stadium. It was a true to life representation of Chopper with a helmet in hand and goofy grin on his face. I pulled Kei just a bit closer as memories of the man began to assault me like a swarm of butterflies. There was a great roar of applause as people saw the new monument. Kei and I stuck around for a while after people began dissipating. We walked over to the base of the statue and I couldn't help but grunt in amusement at the chosen line for the plaque.

_'Til the very end, you idiot!'_

"They actually put that?" Kei asked with amusement.

"I told them I wouldn't let them put anything else," Raenay said from behind us. "Hey you two."

"Hey," I replied as the woman came and gave each of us a hug.

"You guys hungry for some of the finest ribs you'll ever have?" Mrs. Davenport asked after giving us our warm greetings.

"Starving," Kei said as she rubbed her expanded belly.

"I'll bet," Raenay said with a large smile. "When I was toting around Vicky, I couldn't stop eating. But from what I've been hearing, you've got it worse. Twins?" Kei nodded with a growing smile spreading across her face.

"Brothers," she said, adding to Raenay's excitement.

"Well, I guess we'll have to make some extra, won't we," the excited woman said as she led us to her car. As we walked to the vehicle, Kei suddenly grabbed my hand and put it to her belly. I was about to ask her what was up when I felt a tiny… something.

"Did you feel that?" she asked, excitement in her voice. I felt another tiny movement and Kei could barely hold back another giggle of joy. Her smile was highly contagious and I just stood there with her as she continued to hold my hand to her tummy.

"You're going to be an awesome mom," I told her as she smiled widely at her own torso.

"You're going to be a great dad," she replied as she started walking again. "Or else," she added playfully.

**December 24th, 2019**

"Boy's, your room better be cleaned. I don't want your Aunt Whitney thinking we live in a pig sty," Kei yelled out from the kitchen as I helped her make some food for tonight's party.

"Mom, Aunt Whitney's smart. She knows that we live in a house," Kenji said as he came down the stairs holding a foam sword.

"Yeah mom, like Ken said. Aunt Whitney's smart. And she brings us candy," Alex added as he followed his brother with another play blade.

"Yeah!" echoed Elise, our two year old daughter, from her play area.

"Hey," I said sharply, getting the twins to look at me instantly. They knew what my voice meant. "Is your room cleaned?" I asked. I took the silence of the two boys as a negative answer. "Quit beating each other with swords and get it that way, alright?"

"Yes dad," they both said quickly as they thundered up the stairs, making Elise laugh as they disappeared.

"I told you not to get them those things," Kei said with a small smile as she continued prepping some pasta.

"It was either those foam swords or the sticks they pick up in the yard," I countered as I finished washing some lettuce for a salad. It seemed as soon as Kenji and Alex had finished cleaning, people began coming by. First it was Kei's dad who stopped by and immediately spoiled the two with some jerky he had made. Then my parents came by with arms full of gifts that made the two boys go crazy. I knew nobody was going to be sleeping in tomorrow. At last Whitney came by and as Alex had said, had candy with her. After a proper Christmas feast, we were all sitting around the table and laughing as our two boys told ridiculous stories about school.

"Aunt Whitney! Tell us about the silly leprechaun man!" Alex said after a pause in conversation.

"You mean my wing mate? Shamrock?" Whitney clarified.

"No, we heard her story last time," Kenji told his brother. "I want to hear Grandpa Irving's story about the brick thingy."

"Stonehenge?" my dad asked, just as confused as Whitney had been.

"What about me?" Takuma asked as if he had been offended. "My story has lasers," he teased, trying to get the boys to reconsider. The two youngsters seemed to think things over and then turned to each other and had a heated argument before playing three rounds of rock paper scissors. After three tie games, they both nodded and turned back to the table. Kei and I shared a quick smile being used to the twins strange routine before they began to speak in unison.

"We choose-"

**AN: WWWOOO! Last chapter done! Hope it was epic enough. Sorry if the SOLG was a little underwhelming, but honestly, it never felt that hard, even without the FALKEN's op laser. **

**First let me say it's been a privilege to have you guy's as readers, even those of you who didn't review. Looking at the traffic of this story is enough to make me feel good, so once again, thank you! This next section, however, is dedicated to those of you who did communicate with me. You'll probably never know how special you all made me feel. This is my attempt to try and show how much of a positive impact you all had.**

**My very first review: "Holy Cow! You knocked it out of the park! Very nice combat representation, and overall plot choices. 11 chapters already? I better keep (at it)! Keep up the good work, Karaya 1" -Karaya 1**

**You know what day that was on? The very first day I put my story up. Since day one, Karaya 1 has been encouraging me, whether it's through uplifting reviews like that one or PM's. And yes, when I first uploaded this story, I put eleven chapters up all at once. So about a fifth of the story was up on the first day. Crazy, I know. Remember early on, around chapter 13 and 14 when there was… what was it again?**

**"The awkwardness in this chapter is amazingly funny. Especially Blaze. Lovin' it. Can't wait for the next chapter." -Agent Gibbs**

**"Love the awkwardness between Blaze and his sweetheart." -Guest**

**"OH GOD KISS ALREADY! The tension!" -Guest (a different one I assume. It was the same chapter after all)**

**"Still some damn good writing. I will say however funny Blaze's denseness towards Nagase is, at the same time it gets a little annoying so I'm hoping for a little more realization from him about his own feelings towards her in the next chapter or two. That being said another great chapter and great character development." -ArtemisxHolly**

**So, you guy's think there was awkwardness? Tension? Denseness (weird word when you start thinking about it. Try saying it five times fast)? Huh, didn't notice. Then there were all these types of comments. I'm going to paraphrase a little here for brevities sake, but I think you'll get the picture.**

**"Well, this just keeps getting better and better. This is one of the better AC5 stories that have a BlazexNagase focus to it, and I'm thoroughly enjoying every word." -TheShadeOps**

**"I just picked this up (and) read it in one go. I'm already loving it." -Major FuzzBear**

**"You had me at "Write My Own." :)" -ArtemisxHolly**

**"I've got to say this is so far the best Ace Combat 5 fanfiction that I have read so far." -KrazykaMiKaZE**

**"I'm loving this story." -KANEKI KEN**

**"This story is amazing, probably the best AC 5 story I have read so far." Patient 0 Zero**

**First, it was: "Looking forward to reading more of this." -AmongUsAll. Then it was: "Wow, I'm hooked on this story now." -AmongUsAll. After that: "This story gets better and better, and it's at the part of the game I really liked." -AmongUsAll. Finally, they admit: "Aaaaagh I'm so addicted to this!" -AmongUsAll**

**"Hot DAMN! I've literally read all 39 chapters of this story in less than a day, and I CANNOT WAIT for the next chapter! LOVE IT!" -Random Useless Info**

**"I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant when I started reading this. I wasn't that impressed with some of the other Unsung War (novelizations) out there. However, yours is at the top of those I've read so far." -alienvx0**

**"Thank you for writing this story. I too, have been looking for a good Nagase X Blaze story. This certinly delivers. I've been fallowing since the begining and can't wait for more." -Falcon Squadron**

**All of those and more are what kept me motivated and happy throughout this entire project. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind words. Now for all the times you made me laugh. Sometimes it was because of something I said that you pointed out, sometimes it was because you guy's can be as weird as me.**

**For this fist one, some context. Remember chapter 19? I had challenged you guys to figure out what a certain word meant. Notice how there are no more of those challenges? "The bloody rest?" -Guest. Nope, that's not what the challenge word meant.**

**"Still love your writing but just a couple of tweaks for spelling for instance " 'pooped' up on the horizon" and maybe a couple other places but that's it can't wait for the next chapter keep it up! :)" -ArtemisxHolly. Facepalmed so hard when I read that. It's fixed now, so don't look for it!**

**"You've got me biting my nails in antici...pation." -TheShadeOps Here's some proof I'm not as cultured as I'd like to be. Didn't get the reference at first. Actually had to look it up. I knew it was a reference, just didn't know to what. Once I found it though, I couldn't stop laughing.**

**"Cue Spanish guitar" -pir84lyf. Just funny because I was seriously thinking the exact same thing when I wrote it.**

**"I'm one of those people where if everybody isn't flying even numbers of one or two planes I get a little OCD. I like to keep my squad looking fancy and deadly. O3o" -KANEKI KEN. Who doesn't?!**

**"Oh man. I love that story bit." -pir84lyf. It's not as funny any more, but when this comment was made, Chapter 31 was literally one sentence long. I think it was. "We landed on the ship," or something like that. If I knew people could be so easily satisfied, this whole story would be less than a thousand words.**

**"Then there had to be the last line. My only thought was "Caden, you dumbass!"" -AmoungUsAll. You know, I think the normal response for a writer when they hear a reader call their character a dumbass is outrage, but I seriously laughed cause I couldn't agree more.**

**"And damn it Caden! It's just a bra! Get a hold of yourself, sheesh!" -TheShadeOps. Again, I like how you guys can throw punches at Caden. Makes me glad I made a character thats three dimensional enough to punch in the first place.**

**"And last but not least, the fact that you're leased early again! To quote Chopper, "I like you, man!"" -AmoungUsAll. I hear Chopper's voice every time I read that line, and since it's Chopper, I smile.**

**""How does incest work?" 10/10" -Cotten Candye. Probably the takeaway moment of this entire story.**

**"I'm a cat driver through and through. "I feel the need. The need..." ""FOR SPEED!"" *cue "Danger Zone"*" -Major FuzzBear. I had to go find that song after reading that comment.**

**"A love triangle? Really?! What is this, Macross?!" -Major FuzzBear. I like refrences! And there's a Macross inspired plane in here now so…**

**"4)Character relationships, my favorite. Keiden: It is nice to finally see..." -Patient 0 Zero. Okay, so there's more to this review but the thing that caught my eye was Keiden. At first I thought it was Caden misspelled, but then I realized it's a name combination of Kei and Caden. I whooped for joy when I was that. I earned my own name combination! And it's cool!**

**Now, we come to the strange section.**

**"I almost feel like I'm on heroin and you keep taking the needle away causing me to go into withdrawal." -ArtemisxHolly. Sorry?**

**Last, the cipher111996 section. This section is special because only one person is in it. Guess who. No, go on and guess.**

**"Very interesting..." -cipher111996 (Chapter 2) What else you thinking there?**

**"The plot thickens..." -cipher111996 (Chapter 10) Yep.**

**"Interesting..." -cipher111996 (Chapter 40) Just interesting this time, huh?**

**"Interesting..." -cipher111996 (Chapter 41) Why does it feel like you're planning something… The dots! He's making me use the dots!**

**"A love triangle? Just why?" -cipher111996 (Chapter 42) Oh, it's just a coincidence. They're not in every single one. Thats-**

**"Interesting..." -cipher11996 (Chapter 44) THEIR BACK! THE DOTS ARE BACK!**

**"Oh my..." -cipher111996 (Chapter 45) I KNOW!**

**Okay, okay. I seriously do enjoy every review though. They're fun to read or, in this case, decipher(111996). I wish I could tell you what I thought and think about every single one, but this AN is already getting pretty long. Onwards! So, because PM's are in fact Private Messages, there's only going to be one. This one I got explicit permission to use and I felt was representative of most of the PM's I've received.**

**"After 10 years I replayed the unsung war, one of the most amazing games I've ever played. So after that I looked for more info or background stories about the characters and somehow came across this website. Although I enjoyed the stories here, most of them were one shots or unfinished. Then I started reading your version and I have to say this is one amazing piece of work. I really hope you will finish it. I plan to print it when its done and make a little book out of it. Not to sell or make profit of it, just for myself. Every time I finish the game, I would read it. And trust me I'm going to play this game a lot. So in conclusion, I'm writing to say thank you. Thank you for this story and for the time you put into it. And when its finished, I'm looking forward to your projects in the future.**

**Big fan of yours (sry for bad English)" -Borzlike**

**I'd just like to say that reading things like that can make a person's year. And for all those who'd like to print the story when it's done, Go on ahead! It's a fanfiction after all and I own this story as much as a single person can own the moon.**

**Alright. If you've read through all of that, thanks. It means a lot to me that all of you have been so supportive and cool. Stay AWESOME everyone.**


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